Bambos Tsiattalou comments in The Telegraph re claims Google is profiting from scam victims

Partner Bambos Tsiattalou comments in relation to lawyers saying that Google profiting from crime and scam victims may have a claim, in The Telegraph.

Bambos’ comments were published in The Telegraph, 23 February 2020, and can be found here. Bambos’ comments were also published in The Mirror: Sunday People, 1 March 2020, and can be found on page 11.

“This could amount to ‘unjust enrichment’ and would allow victims to mount a claim to get some of their money back, according to Bambos Tsiattalou of Stokoe Partnership Solicitors, a law firm.

However, taking on the world’s most powerful search engine would not be easy, he added.

‘Much would depend on Google’s state of knowledge. If Google knew the ads were for scams, and yet continued to publish them, then those defrauded may be in a position to take legal action. Otherwise, they would be unlikely to be able to hold Google liable.

‘One difficulty is that internet companies often claim that they are not publishers, legally speaking. They argue that they merely transmit information, and so are no more liable than a phone company when a fraudulent call travels down their wires,’ he said.”