Google sues global ‘Lighthouse’ smishing network after text-scam wave steals millions worldwide

Google has filed a major lawsuit in the United States targeting a foreign cybercrime group behind a sprawling SMS-phishing operation known as Lighthouse. The company says the network runs a full phishing-as-a-service business that enables scammers to deploy large-scale smishing attacks using templates designed to mimic trusted brands.

According to Google, Lighthouse operators send text messages that direct victims to fraudulent websites where they are tricked into entering sensitive information such as email logins, bank details, or credit-card numbers. The criminals rely heavily on trademark abuse to build trust. Google says it has identified at least 107 fake website templates using its own branding on sign-in pages to deceive users. Other templates impersonate well-known institutions such as E-ZPass, postal services, retailers, and financial companies.

How the scam came to light

The scale of the operation is significant. Google estimates that Lighthouse-linked scams have claimed more than one million victims across over 120 countries. In the United States alone, the attackers may have compromised between 12.7 million and 115 million credit-card numbers, contributing to what Google calls “immense financial harm”. Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado described Lighthouse as software that enables criminals to rapidly generate fake websites to harvest user information.