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Google said its lawsuit disrupted Lighthouse, a phishing-as-a-service kit allegedly used in SMS scams. Researchers also reported deleted Telegram channels and domains that stopped resolving, but they found signs of related infrastructure and activity remained. The evidence points to a disruption—not proof that every operator or phishing site was permanently shut down.
What is the Lighthouse phishing kit?
Google’s November 2025 complaint describes Lighthouse as subscription software that allegedly helped customers build and operate phishing campaigns. It included SMS and e-commerce versions, along with fake-site templates and tools for setting up domains that impersonated trusted organizations. Lighthouse was not a consumer security product.
In the SMS schemes described in the complaint, victims received messages posing as delivery notices or unpaid toll alerts. Links led to fraudulent websites designed to collect personal or financial information.
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What did Google allege in its lawsuit?
On November 12, 2025, Google filed Google LLC v. Does 1–25 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, suing 25 unnamed defendants. Google alleged they operated a criminal enterprise using Lighthouse to facilitate phishing. Those claims are allegations in a civil case, not findings that the defendants were convicted or held liable.
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Google’s complaint cited the scale of activity attributed to Lighthouse:
- Approximately 200,000 fraudulent websites in a 20-day period, used to attract “well over 1,000,000 potential victims” across at least 121 countries.
- 32,094 distinct USPS phishing websites from July 2023 through October 2024.
- An estimated 12.7 million to 115 million credit cards may have been compromised in the United States alone. This is an attributed estimate, not a verified count.
- Lighthouse-supported phishing websites received an average of 50,000 visits per day.
These figures come from Google’s complaint, which pointed to outside research for some estimates. They describe alleged activity and potential exposure; they are not counts of confirmed victims or verified financial losses.
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Was Lighthouse shut down?
On November 14, 2025, Google said Lighthouse’s operations had been shut down. Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said, “This shut down of Lighthouse’s operations is a win for everyone.”
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Independent reporting described signs of disruption, but not evidence of a complete or permanent end. CyberScoop reported that Silent Push said its tracked Lighthouse Telegram channels had been deleted or taken down. Silent Push also said websites using Lighthouse code remained active, while changes to the backend and wider criminal ecosystem were still emerging. SecAlliance reported that several domains historically associated with Lighthouse infrastructure no longer resolved.
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A preliminary injunction was issued in the case, including provisions for alternative service and an appendix listing associated domains, servers, and service providers. A preliminary order is not a final judgment on liability, and the available reporting does not establish that every operator, website, or related operation was disabled.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to check a delivery or toll text safely
Do not follow a link in an unexpected text claiming to be from a well-known brand. Instead, open the company’s official website or app yourself and check for alerts, delivery updates, or charges there. If there is no matching notice in the official channel, do not enter payment or personal information through the text’s link.
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