Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has won a court case that had sought to hold the company liable for consumer scams perpetrated using its gift cards.
A federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action lawsuit that wanted to hold Alphabet responsible for refunding millions of dollars that had been stolen from consumers in scams involving Google Play gift cards.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman said the plaintiff in the case failed to show that Alphabet was aware of scams involving its gift cards or directly caused any financial losses.
The judge concluded that Alphabet could not be held liable for any fraud carried out with Google Play gift cards.
The plaintiff in the case, a woman named Judy May, claimed that she lost $1,000 when a scammer posing as a relative instructed her to contact a supposed government agent, who told her she was eligible for federal grant money if she bought Google Play gift cards.
May provided the codes on the back of the Google Play gift cards to the scammers, who then used the codes to make purchases.
May said in her lawsuit that she would not have bought the gift cards had Alphabet warned on the packaging about possible scams.
The lawsuit comes as the number of scams rises across the U.S.
In 2023, Americans lost $217 million U.S. in gift card frauds, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Google Play cards account for about 20% of all gift card scams in America, according to the FTC.
Alphabet’s stock has increased 23% so far this year and is currently trading at $169.74 U.S. per share.
