{"id":3374,"date":"2022-04-11T14:51:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/"},"modified":"2022-04-11T14:51:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:51:39","slug":"google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/11\/23019726\/google-puppy-fraud-aarp-scammer-basset-hound-dog\">https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/11\/23019726\/google-puppy-fraud-aarp-scammer-basset-hound-dog<\/a><br \/>\n<code><br \/><\/br><\/code><\/p>\n<div readability=\"80.455202312139\">\n<p id=\"YbAzrw\">On Monday, Google <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.vox-cdn.com\/uploads\/chorus_asset\/file\/23381168\/04.05.22_Bassett_Hound_Complaint__to_Jose____Google_Docs.pdf\">sued a scammer<\/a> for allegedly running an online \u201cpuppy fraud scheme,\u201d defrauding vulnerable people, including the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with false promises of purebred puppies. <\/p>\n<p id=\"hplfa2\">The complaint, filed Monday, accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts to pretend to sell purebred basset hound puppies to people online. In one instance, a victim paid Noel $700 in \u201celectronic gift cards\u201d to purchase a puppy. After sending the gift cards, Noel continued to string along the victim, telling them that the delivery company needed an additional $1,500. According to the complaint, the puppy never arrived. <\/p>\n<div class=\"c-float-right\">\n<aside id=\"035zxK\"><q>\u201cSadly, this scam disproportionately targeted older Americans\u201d<\/q><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"nZ90ie\">\u201cThe actor used a network of fraudulent websites that claimed to sell basset hound puppies \u2014 with alluring photos and fake customer testimonials \u2014 in order to take advantage of people during the pandemic,\u201d Mike Trinh, Google\u2019s senior counsel, wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__blog.google_technology_safety-2Dsecurity_hounding-2Dscammers-2Dlitigation_&#038;d=DwMFaQ&#038;c=7MSjEE-cVgLCRHxk1P5PWg&#038;r=HNNpVffGdDpwb__vVTedbxA45oxwn1GdeQ8euhDLKmk&#038;m=GNdCoVUnQAewZkahaRJnGJoUkix-4bSbUf9C3tg3UL7oR4ANZhawtkbOsGFGCoTG&#038;s=QyzzOqtceR3btFL_WQ1LBL7dvg8yuQ5koYjzcIMjs_w&#038;e=\">in a Monday blog post<\/a>. \u201cSadly, this scam disproportionately targeted older Americans, who can be more vulnerable to cyberattacks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"uPQqoE\">Beyond using Google\u2019s services to communicate with victims, Google accused Noel of running a Google Ads campaign to promote the fraudulent websites. <\/p>\n<p id=\"uzFhzG\">In the complaint, Google says that the AARP, an elderly issues group, alerted the company about the scam last September. Later, in November, the AARP published a report detailing the puppy fraud scams, writing that criminals <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/info-2021\/pet-scammers-pandemic-puppies.html\">were exploiting isolated consumers<\/a> who were looking for companionship during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n<p id=\"7vszKm\">Online scams skyrocketed during the pandemic as people spent more time on social media. Last April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2021\/04\/ftc-testifies-congress-its-work-curb-covid-19-scams-warn-consumers-about-pandemic-related-frauds\">the Federal Trade Commission reported that<\/a> it had issued over 100 alerts and called for more than 350 companies to remove deceptive claims from the internet. <\/p>\n<p id=\"47W2Ky\">Google\u2019s lawsuit claims that Noel violated the company\u2019s terms of service in conducting the alleged scam. Google is seeking statutory relief for damages. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><code><br \/><\/br><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/11\/23019726\/google-puppy-fraud-aarp-scammer-basset-hound-dog\">https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/4\/11\/23019726\/google-puppy-fraud-aarp-scammer-basset-hound-dog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: On Monday, Google sued a scammer for allegedly running an online \u201cpuppy fraud scheme,\u201d defrauding vulnerable people, including the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with false promises of purebred puppies. The complaint, filed Monday, accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,8],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-3374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google","category-technology","tag-google"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source: On Monday, Google sued a scammer for allegedly running an online \u201cpuppy fraud scheme,\u201d defrauding vulnerable people, including the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with false promises of purebred puppies. The complaint, filed Monday, accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-11T14:51:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-11T14:51:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/\",\"name\":\"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-11T14:51:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-11T14:51:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/\",\"name\":\"Science and Nerds\",\"description\":\"My WordPress Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds","og_description":"Source: On Monday, Google sued a scammer for allegedly running an online \u201cpuppy fraud scheme,\u201d defrauding vulnerable people, including the elderly, out of thousands of dollars with false promises of purebred puppies. The complaint, filed Monday, accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/","og_site_name":"Science and Nerds","article_published_time":"2022-04-11T14:51:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-11T14:51:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/","name":"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019 - Science and Nerds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","datePublished":"2022-04-11T14:51:35+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-11T14:51:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/04\/11\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Google sues scammer for \u2018puppy fraud\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/","name":"Science and Nerds","description":"My WordPress Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea2991abeb2b9ab04b32790dff28360e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e6e14fc6691445ef2b2c0a3a6c43882?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/google-sues-scammer-for-puppy-fraud_6254407a36c83.jpeg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3376,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions\/3376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}