Anne Barry

But now someone is finally standing up to these scammers, and it's someone who might actually have the might to do it.

So the unexpected Batman in this, the defender of those text recipients, is Google suing the cyber criminal group behind these text phishing scams, claiming 25 unnamed individuals are part of an operation known as, quote, Lighthouse.

Now, in the lawsuit, they're saying the public was preyed upon by using Google's logos and trademarks on fraudulent websites to dupe unsuspecting victims.

stealing their personal information, such as credit card numbers and bank accounts, millions of dollars as a result being swindled from people.

Now, Google cited research by the CSIS security group in its legal filings, claiming that somewhere between just under $30 million to $115 million, this is a big range, US credit or banking card details have been stolen.

Now, Google believes that these individuals are in China, which means they're outside the reach of US courts.

But they're spending a lot of time and resources on this, hoping that this suit acts as a deterrent.

So, Toby, phishing has been growing in scale and sophistication.

Does Google have an actual shot at putting all of this to an end?

I'm going to be really curious to see how this legal case actually unfolds and whether it's even possible to get a result here.

So think about this.

Google is filing suit, but it doesn't actually know the real identities of the scammers.

The scammers are listed as anonymous.

So they've got handles on Telegram, for example.

So I guess the question is, if this is supposed to be preventative, right, if this is supposed to be Google saying anyone who's thinking about going there don't because you're going to have the full might and power of one of the biggest companies on planet Earth coming after you.

It sounds scary, but is anyone going to be intimidated by it?

I do also wonder how much they're depending on getting some collaboration with Chinese authorities, if this is where this business is based, to try and

ultimately get this shut down.

Just as a side note, here it is, Google is the one filing suit, but it would be tough for us to ignore the fact that Google faces intense legal scrutiny itself right now.

It does have