Google’s recent legal action against a widespread text scam operation appears to have yielded immediate results. A day after filing a lawsuit aimed at shutting down phishing schemes targeting American consumers, Google announced that the criminal network’s cloud infrastructure was temporarily disabled.

According to messages from the alleged “ringleader” of the so-called “Lighthouse enterprise” on Telegram, their server was “blocked due to malicious complaints.” This group reportedly facilitated over 2,500 members in orchestrating phishing attacks, causing estimated losses exceeding one billion dollars.

Experts highlight that disrupting the cloud servers of such operations significantly hampers their ability to operate and scale. “Taking down the infrastructure behind these scams is a crucial step in protecting millions of users,” notes cybersecurity analyst Dr. Lisa Carter.

While the server has been temporarily shut down, the scam group has expressed intentions to restore their operations. Google’s decisive action demonstrates how legal and technological efforts can effectively challenge cybercriminal networks, offering hope for better online security.

David Nield

Dave is a freelance tech journalist with over 20 years covering gadgets, apps, and the web. From Stockport, England, he covers news, features, and reviews for TechRadar, focusing on phones, tablets, and wearables. He ensures top weekend breaking news and has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci, and others. He edited PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook for years. Read me on x.com or linkedin.