A federal choose dismissed a proposed class motion lawsuit accusing Google of illegally taking advantage of Google Play reward card scams by refusing to refund thousands and thousands of {dollars} stolen from victims.
In a late Monday resolution, US District Decide Beth Labson Freeman mentioned the complainant Judy Could misplaced cash as a result of scammers induced her to purchase reward playing cards, and failed to point out that Google prompted her losses or knew it was receiving stolen funds.
The San Jose, California-based choose additionally mentioned Google was not chargeable for retaining 15% to 30% commissions on purchases that scammers made with the reward playing cards, as a result of Google’s conduct was unrelated to the unique fraud.
Could mentioned she misplaced $1,000 in April 2021 when a scammer posing as a relative instructed her to contact a supposed authorities agent, who advised her she was eligible for federal grant cash if she purchased Google Play reward playing cards.
The Brownsville, Indiana resident mentioned she supplied the codes on the again to cowl supposed upfront prices, however the scammers used the codes to make purchases.
Could mentioned she wouldn’t have purchased the playing cards had Google warned on the packaging about scams, and that anybody demanding cost with the playing cards was a scammer.
Attorneys for Could didn’t instantly reply on Tuesday to requests for remark. Google, a unit of Alphabet, didn’t instantly reply to related requests.
Freeman mentioned Could may attempt to refile her lawsuit, however dismissed a declare searching for triple damages for good. Alphabet is predicated in Mountain View, California.
In 2023, Individuals misplaced $217 million in reward card or reload card fraud, in accordance with the Federal Commerce Fee.
The precise quantity is probably going a lot larger as a result of the information cowl solely reported instances. Citing FTC information from 2021, Could mentioned Google Play playing cards account for about 20% of reward card scams.
The case is Could v Google LLC et al, US District Court docket, Northern District of California, No. 24-01314.
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