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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther laid out his vision for the city's future by unveiling his proposed $1.26 billion operating budget.  "Things are happening in Washington, in the statehouse, and in our economy that require us to proceed with an extra degree of caution," Mayor Ginther said. Most of the money would [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Living in either Columbus or Ann Arbor, Michigan, does not ensure that someone picks a side in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. NBC Sports' Mike Tirico is proof of that. Tirico, NBC's host of the Olympics and play-by-play announcer for Sunday Night Football, has lived with his family in Ann Arbor since [...]

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) will mark two major milestones this month with a special Slow Scan Television (SSTV) event aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Beginning November 12 through November 20, the station will transmit a series of 12 commemorative SSTV images, pausing only for a scheduled educational contact.

The “SSTV Spacetacular” will highlight both...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The nation's longest government shutdown ended Wednesday night after a short-term spending bill passed the House. After 43 days, the shutdown ended with the passage of a bill to fund military construction, veterans' affairs, the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, 2026, and the rest of the [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A new restaurant serving a fusion of Persian and American cuisine is preparing to open in a north Columbus neighborhood. Linworth Grill is coming to 2245 W. Dublin Granville Road in Linworth, which sits between Worthington and Dublin. The building previously housed Junkyard Dogs, a hot dog eatery that closed in [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Meet Archer! He is up for adoption at the Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center. Archer is 5-years-old and is described as a 70-pound snuggle bug who loves all of the cuddles he can get. When Archer first entered the shelter, he was anxious. Now, Archer is with a foster [...]

Google is suing more than two dozen unnamed individuals allegedly involved in peddling a popular China-based mobile phishing service that helps scammers impersonate hundreds of trusted brands, blast out text message lures, and convert phished payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google.

In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on November 12, Google sued to unmask and disrupt 25 “John Doe” defendants allegedly linked to the sale of Lighthouse, a sophisticated phishing kit that makes it simple for even novices to steal payment card data from mobile users. Google said Lighthouse has harmed more than a million victims across 120 countries.

A component of the Chinese phishing kit Lighthouse made to target customers of The Toll Roads, which refers to several state routes through Orange County, Calif.

Lighthouse is one of several prolific phishing-as-a-service operations known as the “Smishing Triad,” and collectively they are responsible for sending millions of text messages that spoof the U.S. Postal Service to supposedly collect some outstanding delivery fee, or that pretend to be a local toll road operator warning of a delinquent toll fee. More recently, Lighthouse has been used to spoof e-commerce websites, financial institutions and brokerage firms.

Regardless of the text message lure used or brand used, the basic scam remains the same: After the visitor enters their payment information, the phishing site will automatically attempt to enroll the card as a mobile wallet from Apple or Google. The phishing site then tells the visitor that their bank is going to verify the transaction by sending a one-time code that needs to be entered into the payment page before the transaction can be completed.

If the recipient provides that one-time code, the scammers can link the victim’s card data to a mobile wallet on a device that they control. Researchers say the fraudsters usually load several stolen wallets onto each mobile device, and wait 7-10 days after that enrollment before selling the phones or using them for fraud.

Google called the scale of the Lighthouse phishing attacks “staggering.” A May 2025 report from Silent Push found the domains used by the Smishing Triad are rotated frequently, with approximately 25,000 phishing domains active during any 8-day period.

Google’s lawsuit alleges the purveyors of Lighthouse violated the company’s trademarks by including Google’s logos on countless phishing websites. The complaint says Lighthouse offers over 600 templates for phishing websites of more than 400 entities, and that Google’s logos were featured on at least a quarter of those templates.

Google is also pursuing Lighthouse under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, saying the Lighthouse phishing enterprise encompasses several connected threat actor groups that work together to design and implement complex criminal schemes targeting the general public.

According to Google, those threat actor teams include a “developer group” that supplies the phishing software and templates; a “data broker group” that provides a list of targets; a “spammer group” that provides the tools to send fraudulent text messages in volume; a “theft group,” in charge of monetizing the phished information; and an “administrative group,” which runs their Telegram support channels and discussion groups designed to facilitate collaboration and recruit new members.

“While different members of the Enterprise may play different roles in the Schemes, they all collaborate to execute phishing attacks that rely on the Lighthouse software,” Google’s complaint alleges. “None of the Enterprise’s Schemes can generate revenue without collaboration and cooperation among the members of the Enterprise. All of the threat actor groups are connected to one another through historical and current business ties, including through their use of Lighthouse and the online community supporting its use, which exists on both YouTube and Telegram channels.”

Silent Push’s May report observed that the Smishing Triad boasts it has “300+ front desk staff worldwide” involved in Lighthouse, staff that is mainly used to support various aspects of the group’s fraud and cash-out schemes.

An image shared by an SMS phishing group shows a panel of mobile phones responsible for mass-sending phishing messages. These panels require a live operator because the one-time codes being shared by phishing victims must be used quickly as they generally expire within a few minutes.

Google alleges that in addition to blasting out text messages spoofing known brands, Lighthouse makes it easy for customers to mass-create fake e-commerce websites that are advertised using Google Ads accounts (and paid for with stolen credit cards). These phony merchants collect payment card information at checkout, and then prompt the customer to expect and share a one-time code sent from their financial institution.

Once again, that one-time code is being sent by the bank because the fake e-commerce site has just attempted to enroll the victim’s payment card data in a mobile wallet. By the time a victim understands they will likely never receive the item they just purchased from the fake e-commerce shop, the scammers have already run through hundreds of dollars in fraudulent charges, often at high-end electronics stores or jewelers.

Ford Merrill works in security research at SecAlliance, a CSIS Security Group company, and he’s been tracking Chinese SMS phishing groups for several years. Merrill said many Lighthouse customers are now using the phishing kit to erect fake e-commerce websites that are advertised on Google and Meta platforms.

“You find this shop by searching for a particular product online or whatever, and you think you’re getting a good deal,” Merrill said. “But of course you never receive the product, and they will phish that one-time code at checkout.”

Merrill said some of the phishing templates include payment buttons for services like PayPal, and that victims who choose to pay through PayPal can also see their PayPal accounts hijacked.

A fake e-commerce site from the Smishing Triad spoofing PayPal on a mobile device.

“The main advantage of the fake e-commerce site is that it doesn’t require them to send out message lures,” Merrill said, noting that the fake vendor sites have more staying power than traditional phishing sites because it takes far longer for them to be flagged for fraud.

Merrill said Google’s legal action may temporarily disrupt the Lighthouse operators, and could make it easier for U.S. federal authorities to bring criminal charges against the group. But he said the Chinese mobile phishing market is so lucrative right now that it’s difficult to imagine a popular phishing service voluntarily turning out the lights.

Merrill said Google’s lawsuit also can help lay the groundwork for future disruptive actions against Lighthouse and other phishing-as-a-service entities that are operating almost entirely on Chinese networks. According to Silent Push, a majority of the phishing sites created with these kits are sitting at two Chinese hosting companies: Tencent (AS132203) and Alibaba (AS45102).

“Once Google has a default judgment against the Lighthouse guys in court, theoretically they could use that to go to Alibaba and Tencent and say, ‘These guys have been found guilty, here are their domains and IP addresses, we want you to shut these down or we’ll include you in the case.'”

If Google can bring that kind of legal pressure consistently over time, Merrill said, they might succeed in increasing costs for the phishers and more frequently disrupting their operations.

“If you take all of these Chinese phishing kit developers, I have to believe it’s tens of thousands of Chinese-speaking people involved,” he said. “The Lighthouse guys will probably burn down their Telegram channels and disappear for a while. They might call it something else or redevelop their service entirely. But I don’t believe for a minute they’re going to close up shop and leave forever.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – There haven’t been too many November night games at Ohio Stadium. This Saturday against UCLA will be the sixth. The timing is also unusual because it will mark only the third season the Buckeyes have played three home night games. The first was in 2014 against Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, and Illinois; [...]

This weekend in central Ohio is filled with fun, eclectic adventures, including sports, art, music, family-friendly events, and the Hot Chocolate Run.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Prosecutors are expected to continue presenting their case on Thursday in the murder trial of Connor Grubb, the Blendon Township police officer charged in the death of Ta’Kiya Young. Grubb, 31, is charged with four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and two counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A bill to make buckeye candy Ohio's official state treat is heading to a Senate vote after The Buckeye Lady and Anthony-Thomas Candy Company joined others in supporting the measure during testimony this month. Sponsored by Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus), Senate Bill 247 passed out of the Senate Government Oversight and [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio legislators are considering changes to minor labor laws, including letting teens work later on school nights. Ohio legislators sent Senate Bill 50 to the governor's desk last week. The bill would adjust child labor laws to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights with parent [...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - AEP Ohio has responded to a grassroots effort to encourage Central Ohioans to speak out against a proposed rate increase. Columbus StandUp launched 'Lights Out on AEP' Monday this week in opposition of the base rate increase of 2.14% AEP Ohio has applied for. The energy giant responded to a request for [...]

Joel and protein poptart.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Christmas content is king this time of year, and Columbus native Maurice Hall is making his name in the holiday movie genre. Hall co-wrote, produced and starred in "A Heart For Christmas" in 2024, his debut Christmas movie. It was an ambitious project and a success for a man who's accustomed [...]