Google launches a lawsuit targeting text message scammers

If you have a mobile phone, you have no doubt seen some dodgy texts. They might declare that you have an overdue road toll, and urge you to "Click here to pay." Or maybe they inform you that there's a package waiting, but the address is wrong; "Click here to fix it."More often than not, these texts are scams. The websites you are directed to are fakes, often decked out with a misappropriated Google logo to trick you into typing in sensitive payment or sign-in information. It's called a "phishing" attack—or "smishing" when it's done via SMS. And now Google has had it with scammers. The tech giant filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York targeting what it alleges is a sprawling criminal organization based in China called "Lighthouse" that provides software and support to online scammers. Google also publicly endorsed three bipartisan bills being considered by Congress that are meant to help law enforcement agencies target scammers. The bills include the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception (GUARD) Act, which would allow local law enforcement to use grant funding to investigate financial fraud targeting retirees; the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, which would establish a task force to block foreign robocalls; and the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act, which aims to develop a national strategy to counter "compounds" where people are trafficked to work in scam operations.