08:30 AM EDT, 04/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Alphabet (GOOG) unit Google ( GOOG ) is suing two Chinese app developers for allegedly running a crypto investment fraud scheme targeting users of its Google Play mobile apps.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in New York, Yunfeng Sun and Hongnam Cheung, along with other co-conspirators, allegedly targeted victims to download mobile apps that claimed to offer cryptocurrency investments.

"Members of the fraud scheme lured victims in with promises of high returns, and the seemingly legitimate apps were designed to display purported returns on investments in individual victim accounts," Google ( GOOG ) said in the complaint. "Yet the gains conveyed by the apps were illusory."

Google ( GOOG ) also said that when it took the apps offline to protect Google Play users, the defendants would simply upload new apps to Google Play, using varying computer network infrastructure and accounts to obfuscate their identities.

Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment.

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