Florida resident Maria Vaca has taken legal action against Google, claiming the company’s negligence resulted in her losing over $5 million.
The lawsuit, filed in California, outlines how Vaca was duped by a fraudulent crypto investment app named Yobit Pro, which she had downloaded from the Google Play Store.
Vaca invested heavily in cryptocurrency through Yobit Pro between February and July 2023, pouring nearly $4.6 million into the platform.
Vaca’s Investments Appeared to Grow to $7 Million
Initially, Vaca saw her investments balloon to an impressive $7 million, according to the app. However, when she tried to withdraw her funds, she was informed she needed to deposit an additional $500,000 to cover “taxes.”
After making this payment, Vaca became suspicious when the app demanded an additional $2 million. Recognizing the scam, she refused to pay.
The situation intensified when Vaca began receiving threatening messages on WhatsApp from unknown cyber-criminals, who demanded more money and even threatened her life.
Fearing for her safety, Vaca reported the scam to law enforcement and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which then contacted Google.
Despite the severity of the situation, Vaca’s lawsuit claims that Google took three months to remove the fraudulent app from the Play Store.
Vaca is now seeking a minimum of $5 million in damages from Google, representing her financial losses.
In her lawsuit, Vaca asserts that she trusted the Yobit Pro app solely because it was available on the Google Play Store, believing that Google’s platform was safe and free from fraudulent apps.
The suit accuses Google of making “material misrepresentations and engaging in deceptive conduct,” which Vaca claims led to severe financial, emotional, and psychological distress.
The ordeal not only cost Vaca her savings but also led to the collapse of her real estate business, a venture she had spent her entire life building.
Vaca’s case is not an isolated incident.
Her lawsuit highlights that more than 12,000 Android users downloaded Yobit Pro, with at least five others reporting similar fraudulent experiences.
Google Takes Legal Action Against Fraudulent App Developers
In April, Google took legal action against two developers responsible for creating 87 fraudulent apps that scammed over 100,000 users, including 8,700 in the U.S.
While Yobit Pro was not specifically named in Google’s lawsuit, the deceptive practices described are strikingly similar to Vaca’s experience. These scams often involve apps promising high returns but later demanding additional payments under the pretext of taxes or fees, with no intention of allowing users to withdraw their funds.
One of the apps cited in Google’s lawsuit, TionRT, falsely claimed to be a cryptocurrency exchange. Uploaded to Google Play in 2022 by a developer linked to Sun, the app used text messages and social media to lure victims with promises of earning extra money. When users tried to withdraw their funds, they were met with silence from the scammers, leading to the eventual shutdown of the platform.
In response to the growing issue of fraudulent apps, Google has introduced a feature that allows users to search wallet balances on Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom blockchains.