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Documents filed in court revealed that this was not street level crime. This was a full scale industrial enterprise.
Investigators discovered that from July of 2023 through October of 2024, the Lighthouse group created or used 32,094 fake websites pretending to be the United States Postal Service.
Over thirty two thousand replicas for one government agency alone.
Google uncovered an even darker layer. The syndicate used a “phishing as a service” toolkit that allowed anyone to buy access, copy the scam template, and immediately start stealing from Americans. It was fraud franchised on demand.
The criminals hid behind Telegram usernames, forcing Google to identify the defendants only as “Does 1 through 25”, since their real names remain unknown.
The company filed the case under the RICO Act, the same legal weapon used to dismantle mafia families. Big Tech rarely steps into that arena. This time they did.
The Damage Is Staggering and Seniors Paid the Highest Price
Google’s general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado did not sugarcoat the scale of devastation. She warned that Lighthouse compromised “anywhere from 15 million to 100 million potential credit cards within the U.S.” and harmed “over a million victims”.
Let that sink in. Up to one hundred million credit cards. That is close to one third of the country.
The group targeted trusted brands like USPS, E ZPass, and even Google itself. Nearly 2,500 participants used a public Telegram channel to recruit accomplices and share tactics like it was an online workshop for thieves.
This was not a side hustle. They had dedicated roles. Data suppliers. Text message broadcasters. Credential harvesters. Account thieves. All operating in plain sight.
And the most vulnerable Americans suffered the worst of it. Reports show that from 2020 through 2024, older victims losing ten thousand dollars or more skyrocketed more than fourfold. Seniors in the United States lost 4.8 billion dollars to fraud in 2024 alone.
Those numbers represent retirement accounts emptied, family savings destroyed, and decades of work wiped out by a single text message.
Washington Finally Finds Bipartisan Courage
Google is not waiting for the courts to do their job. The company is now partnering with lawmakers to push three bipartisan bills that aim to choke off these foreign based crime operations.
The Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception Act, or GUARD Act, would empower state and local police to use federal grants to pursue scammers who prey on retirees. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The GUARD Act is a critical step in equipping our state and local law enforcement with the tools they need to stay ahead of these threats here at home”.
The Foreign Robocall Elimination Act would create a federal strike force focused on stopping overseas scam operations before they reach American phones. The team would include members of the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice.
The Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization Act goes after the real factories of this crime wave. The bill targets compounds across Southeast Asia that force trafficked workers to run fraud operations around the clock. The legislation would sanction these facilities and provide help for survivors.
When Democrats and Republicans align this quickly, you know the national security threat has grown too obvious to ignore.
The Message to Foreign Criminals Is Simple
Google’s lawsuit and Washington’s renewed pressure send a clear warning.
Foreign scam cartels can hide behind fake accounts, burner phones, and Telegram channels, but they can only run for so long before someone with the resources to fight back steps in.
The Lighthouse network believed it could bleed Americans dry without consequences.
Now it faces the weight of the federal courts, the RICO statute, and a Congress that is finally paying attention.
China based scammers should be terrified. Their free ride just came to an end.
