Many people who want to add a four-legged member to their family often turn to the internet. However, they should be quite careful, since in many cases the ads they find are scams. According to Google, a network of websites selling puppies is stealing money from elderly Americans looking for a dog.
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The search giant has now sued the puppy scammer, for allegedly abusing Google's services to target and manipulate unsuspecting victims in order to steal their money.
"The defendant has used multiple Google services, such as Gmail and Google Voice, through dozens of fraudulent Google accounts, to communicate false promises to victims, register the fraudulent sites with US Internet hosting companies, and solicit and receive payments, all in violation of Google's rules set forth in its Terms of Service", the company said in lawsuit.
Google learned about the puppy scammer last September through a complaint from AARP, a nonprofit group that focuses on Americans 50 and older. A victim in South Carolina who wanted to buy a puppy encountered one of the scam sites at familyhomebassetthounds[.]com, which used accounts Gmail and Google Voice to correspond with potential buyers.
The victim was asked to pay 700 $ in digital gift cards if he wanted to get a Basset Hound puppy. But after he did, he was asked to pay another $1,500 for delivery fees. In the end, the victim never received the dog.
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In response, Google began investigating and traced the online accounts used by the imposter to correspond with the victims. This revealed that some of the accounts were registered under a variant of the name "Nche Noel Ntse".
"One of the oldest accounts, nchenoel123@gmail[.]com, was created in September 2013 from an IP address in Cameroon and has a phone number with the country code of Cameroon", the company notes in the lawsuit. "In addition, a Gmail account connected from the same IP address as Gmail Account A uses the name "Nche Noel Ntse" in the billing address."
Google's lawsuit asks the US District Court for Northern California to prohibit Nche Noel Ntse from using the company's services and creating other fraud sites. In addition, the complaint asks the judge to award a monetary compensation.
It is unlikely that the puppy scammer will be brought to trial, given that the defendant is based in Cameroon. However, Google hopes that the lawsuit will raise awareness about scams with puppies. To avoid falling victim to such a scam, the company says it's best to see the pet in person or on a video call before paying. Another suspicious sign is if the pet dealer requires you to pay with gift cards instead of verified payment method.
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The company added: "Search to see if what you want to buy is a stock image or a stolen photo. Using Google Chrome, hover your cursor over the photo and right click, then select "Search Google for image". If this Image from appears in many places, it is probably a scam.“
Google also hopes the case will set a legal precedent that will help the tech industry and law enforcement stop such crimes.
