Google files lawsuit against Chinese ‘organized cybercrime operation’

Google filed a civil lawsuit on Friday targeting an organized cybercrime operation known as the “Outsider Enterprise.”

In its complaint, Google alleged that the defendants are “a group of foreign-based cybercriminals who have made sophisticated fraud as simple as a few clicks of the mouse.” This organized cybercrime network allegedly “built, maintained, and use a turn-key, online software suite that enables criminals, regardless of technical skill, to publish fraudulent websites designed to rob victims and enrich themselves,” according to a draft of the complaint.

“With this ‘phishing-for-dummies’ software—called ‘Outsider’—fraud that previously required technical sophistication is readily accessible,” the complaint says. “And the threat is only growing with the use of artificial intelligence (‘AI’). In late 2025, phishing attacks generated using artificial intelligence reportedly increased more than fourteenfold and now account for over half of all reported phishing incidents.”

The mayor technology company is “suing to disrupt this criminal enterprise and to protect its users and the online ecosystem they use every day,” per the complaint.

“You’ve seen the texts: fake package alerts, urgent bank warnings, panicked messages about your compromised account. Behind them is an AI-powered cybercrime network built to steal your passwords and credit cards,” Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado wrote Friday in a blog post. “Today, we’re fighting back.”

“We’re filing a lawsuit to dismantle their infrastructure, coordinating with the FBI who will be taking law enforcement actions, and will continue to work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to block these texts before they reach you,” she added. “Litigation alone won’t end this. So we’re also advocating for federal legislation to make these protections permanent.”

The “Outsider Enterprise” network is based in China and “distributes ‘phishing kits’ that allow criminals to blast out fake text campaigns that look like they’re from Google and other trusted brands,” according to the blog post.

Phishing refers to a kind of cyberattack that utilizes fraudulent emails, text messages, phone calls or websites to trick individuals into sharing sensitive data, downloading malware or exposing themselves to cybercrime, according to IBM.

“The criminals behind the Outsider Enterprise built a business out of impersonating trusted brands to defraud hundreds of thousands of victims,” Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division Brett Leatherman said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “Criminals increasingly use AI to make fraud like this more convincing and harder to detect. Together with partners like Google, we can disrupt criminal networks in ways no single organization could on its own.”

There have been a growing number of reports of Americans facing cyber-related fraud in recent years. A Pew Research Center survey released in July 2025 found that 73% of U.S. adults have experienced some form of online scam or attack.

Ninety percent of financial professionals reported an uptick in AI-driven attacks over the past two years, according to a 2026 Nasdaq Verafin report.

Cyber-enabled crimes defrauded Americans of almost $21 billion in 2025, with cryptocurrency and AI-related complaints being some of the most costly, the FBI reported in April.

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