Google Sues Puppy Scammer After Tip From AARP; Scammer Used Services to Sell Fake Pets

Alphabet’s Google on Monday sued an alleged puppy scammer who used its services to sell fake pets, the first of what the company said would be a growing number of lawsuits targeting apparent misuse by its users.

Elder advocacy group AARP tipped Google to the scam last September following a complaint from a South Carolina resident who had sent $700 (roughly Rs. 53,1110) in digital gift cards to an online seller for a basset hound puppy that never came, according to Google’s lawsuit in US district court in San Jose.

Google is seeking monetary damages and a court order banning the accused user, Nche Noel of Cameroon. Noel did not respond to a request for comment through one of several puppy websites named in the lawsuit, and an attorney was not immediately listed for Noel in court records.