The sale of adorable, but imaginary, puppies was the subject of a consumer protection lawsuit filed by the tech giant.
A lawsuit was filed Monday in the US District Court in San Jose, Calif., against a man who is accused of duping would-be puppy buyers using a range of internet services.
Mr. Ntse lured his victims with pictures of puppies and testimonials from satisfied customers.
Mr. Ntse is being sued by the company for harm to its relationship with its users.
"It seems like a particularly egregious abuse of our products," said Michael Trinh, a lawyer for Google.
Mr. Trinh said he hoped the suit would go further and make an example of Mr. Ntse. Mr. Trinh said that civil litigation would be a faster remedy than criminal charges.
A spokesman for the company said that the case was the first consumer protection lawsuit. He said that the victims lost more than $1 million in total, based on the network of sites run by Mr. Ntse.
There was a surge in demand for pets after the Pandemic, as well as an increase in schemes to take advantage of that desire.
According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost more than $5.8 billion to fraud last year, an increase of more than 70 percent from 2020. According to the Better Business Bureau, online shopping scam increased during the Pandemic. Pets-related fraud accounted for 35 percent of the reports in 2021, according to the group.
After receiving a report of abuse from an advocacy group for older Americans, Google became aware of Mr. Ntse's activities around September 2021.
Mr. Ntse was contacted by email by a person in South Carolina who was looking for a dog. The person sent $700 in electronic gift cards to Mr. Ntse after he replied to their email and text.
The case summons states that Mr. Ntse is based in the port city of Douala. The lawsuit says he ran websites that sold marijuana and opiate cough syrup.
When buying a puppy, you don't expect a criminal to be on the other end, said Paul Brady, who runs PetSCAMs.com.
A lot of the time, the photos and videos of puppies are posted outside of the U.S., and the scammers ask for upfront online payments and sometimes additional costs, like animal Quarantine or delivery fees.
Mr. Brady said that such schemes have exploded in the past two years, as people were taken advantage of in order to get a puppy.
He said that people are sitting alone and they want the company of an animal.
Rael was cheated by an online pet scheme.
A year ago, Ms. Raskovich moved to South Carolina and wanted to buy her first puppy: a Golden Retriever.
She filled out an online form that included questions about her plans to care for the animal, which led her to believe that the process was legit.
She wired a $700 deposit to the seller, who sent her a video of what she thought was her puppy. She bought some things for her dog.
She said that the seller wanted an additional $1,300 for a coronaviruses vaccine for the dog and an air-conditioned shipping crate. Ms. Raskovitch was told to expect a call from Delta Air Lines when she called to confirm that the animal was not going to be shipped.
She said that she cut off communication because this definitely isn't legitimate. The seller's identity was never determined.
You get ready for a new person in your life.
Noyes contributed to the report.
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