Woman Sues Google for $5 Million After Fraudulent Crypto Wallet App Scammed Her Out of $4.6 Million

Consumers are increasingly interacting with crypto assets using all sorts of platforms. Digital assets have become some of the most sought-after investment vehicles

A Florida woman is suing Google after she lost millions of dollars to a fraudulent crypto wallet app that she downloaded from the Google Play Store.

According to the lawsuit, filed in a California court on Friday, Maria Vaca began investing in cryptocurrency between February and July 2023. During that time, she downloaded the Yobit Pro app from the Play Store.

Vaca alleges that she deposited $4.6 million into the Yobit Pro app, and it told her that her investments were doing well, netting her $7 million. However, when she tried to withdraw some of the money, the app told her that she had to deposit another $500,000.

The app claimed that this money was to cover taxes related to her investments, and Vaca went ahead and deposited it. But when the app asked her for another $2 million, she began to get suspicious.

Vaca didn't put any more money on the app, but this didn't stop the issue. Instead, she began receiving threats to her life via WhatsApp.

She turned to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which then informed Google about the scammy app. But the suit says that Google was very slow to do anything about the issue.

In fact, the Yobit Pro app stayed on the Play Store for another three months despite the information it received. It turns out that Vaca was not the only one with this experience, as Yobit Pro had been downloaded by over 12,000 people.

Five of these people have reported also having their money stolen, which shows just how far-reaching the issue is. Vaca is seeking $5 million in damages from Google and is accusing the company of "material misrepresentations and other deceptive conduct."

She has also said that the whole ordeal led to the collapse of her real estate business and damaged her mental health.

This incident is a rather tricky one because, as the lawsuit points out, Vaca and others trusted the app because it was on the Google Play Store, meaning it had been vetted by the company.

The Play Store is one of the biggest app platforms in the world, and users might naturally assume that Google has a responsibility to keep them safe.

Google, on its part, has taken some action to combat the issue of fraudulent apps. Earlier this year, it sued two developers who had developed 87 fraudulent apps.

These apps scammed a total of 100,000 users and included a number of crypto apps. Similar to Yobit Pro's strategy, users were drawn in by the promise of making massive profits but once they deposited their money, they weren't able to get it out.

Any industry that is financially viable will have to deal with scammers, but cryptocurrency is especially tricky to navigate. Crypto transactions, because they are decentralized, are very difficult to track and they cannot be reversed.

So when someone is scammed of their crypto assets or through a crypto investment scheme, it is harder for them to get justice. This is why crypto investors are always told to only invest with verified platforms.

In Vaca's case, an app approved for listing on the Google Play Store is perhaps as verified as it gets, but she still got scammed.

Google hasn't responded to the suit just yet, but its outcome will set a precedent for both it and other firms moving forward. It might prompt Google to be more proactive about removing scam apps lest it loses the confidence of some of its users.

For crypto investors, it is yet another cautionary tale of avoiding scammers.

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