Google Sues Chinese Cybercriminals Behind ‘Lighthouse’ Phishing Kit

Google on Tuesday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against a cybercrime group believed to be operating out of China.

The group, known as Smishing Triad, has been active since at least 2023, targeting users around the world in large-scale SMS phishing (smishing) campaigns.

The group’s malicious SMS messages impersonate toll and package delivery services — Google provided E-ZPass and USPS as an example — as well as banks, healthcare organizations, online payment platforms, law enforcement, and social media services.

Google has targeted Lighthouse, a recently launched phishing-as-a-service kit that enables cybercriminals to send out messages containing links to phishing sites. The malicious sites are set up to trick users into handing over email credentials, banking details, and other sensitive information.

According to Google, the Lighthouse kit enabled the targeting of more than one million users across over 120 countries, with an estimated 12 million to 115 million credit cards ...