Hello!

A few days ago, Aliexpress introduced Google Pay as an accepted payment method for my location and I'm wondering if it's as safe as PayPal (unfortunately Aliexpress doesn't support PayPal in my location).

So can I get my money back as easy as with Paypal if I'll get scammed by a seller from Aliexpress? Does Google Pay have buyer protection as Paypal has?

Thanks for clarifying!

Hi PF, I hope this is the right place to turn. About a week and a half ago I got a fraud alert from my credit card. It looked like my google play account was hacked and was used to purchase 9 apps over the course of a day. Almost all the apps had russian titles, and had the same developer, they also just looked like repackaged versions of existing apps and being sold at an exorbitant price ($90-$200) adding up to over $980.

I immediately disputed the charges with the credit card companies that was used (I had 2 cards on file), and notified google. My CC returned the charges while they investigated. Google suspended my Google Pay account because I made a credit card dispute and "investigated". After a few days Google asked me to provide some information (photo ID, credit card statement) so they can continue to investigate and reopen my pay account. I got replacement cards with new numbers, changed my password, etc (I've always had 2FA activated and require a password for every app purchase)

Another few days pass and I got a response from google when they reopened my Google Pay account that " With regard to your account, however, our security team has found these charges to be legitimate." Another few days pass and I got another notification my Google Pay account was disabled because of a return payment to my credit card.

I would leave it at that since this experience with google pay left a bad taste in my mouth but I do have a Play music account and can't pay for my subscription without a google pay account. I would try to ask for a refund for the apps since google seems to be convinced a "family member or child" has probably made the purchases but they are no longer in my order history.

Is there any recourse to either get google to stop considering these charges as legitimate, getting a refund so google stops trying to charge me, and reopen my play account?

Edit: I had a chat with Google to try and appeal their decision or get a refund if they consider the purchase legitimate. Also I wanted to try to get more information because their email doesn't provide any detail. The rep said "Thank you for waiting. I did review the claim ID you kindly provided. It does seem that because the charges were ruled as legitimate we wouldn't be able to provide a refund." I was hoping they still had a 48 hour window for refunds, and since those charges were disputed and being investigated I might still be eligible. As of now I don't even see the apps on my Google play account, (just reciepts on Google pay).

The conversation continued like this :

Google: Our account specialist do a thorough investigation and are able to confirm if whether or not your Google account has been compromised. Based on their investigation they found no signs of that happening which is why we're unable to provide a refund.

Me: When I looked at app policies there should be a 48 hour window for a refund if say a family member accidentally purchased apps.

Google: Our refund policy does mention a 48 hour window. The form you filled out was for unauthorized charges.

Google: Did a friend or family member make these purchases or no?

Me: Not to my knowledge.

Me: I don't see the apps on any devices

Me: Which is why i filled out a form for unauthorized charges.

Google: Hmm, okay. Since we are ruling out the possibility of a friend or family member making them the process you followed is correct. 

Google: And, since our account specialist mentioned we wouldn't be able to provide a refund I'm recommending you speak with the bank further.

I asked them to provide me the contact information with the software developer and here's how that went.

Me: What about the software developer? I can't seem to find any trace of them. GOOGLE *jakov sheynbey g.co/help

Google: You could attempt to contact the developer of the application for a possible refund. Let me see if I can find a contact email for them. Allow me 3 minutes.

Google: Thank you for waiting. I'm still looking into finding a contact information for the developer.

Milton: Also I tried looking for a few of the apps bought on my account and can't find a trace of them.

Google: It seems that the applications have been suspended which is why you're having trouble finding them.

Google: At this point I'd highly recommend speaking with your bank again for more options since we're unable to process the refund.

Me: Why were they suspended?

Me: Are you able to get contact information for the developer?

Google: Either the developer decided to remove the app from the Play Store or they violated our terms of service.

Google: Since I'm unable to locate the app through the Play Store app I wouldn't have their contact information. However, you can attempt to locate that at pay.google.com from the purchase receipt.

Google: Can I find out more what happened to the developer this information would be helpful if I need to make another dispute with the bank.

Google: You can inform the bank that the developer's application has been suspended and you're unable to reach them. I wouldn't have much more details as to why they are no longer in the Play Store. 

Google: They have either decided to remove their own application or they were suspended for violating the Terms of Service. That is all the information I have available at this time.

Me: Since I cannot access the app or developer would that be a possible avenue for a refund?

Google: Since the transactions you reported were unauthorized and have already been reviewed by our account specialist we would not be able to provide a refund.

Google: For unauthorized transactions, our account specialist have the final decision if whether or not the refund will be approved based on their investigation.

Not sure where to go from here. My bank is still investigating and waiting for paperwork from Google (most likely Google will double down with the result of their internal investigation.) My main concern is my bank will consider Google's investigation legit and still charge me. Although I have a transcript with a Google employee saying the developer and their apps we're removed from the play store ie I can not receive the goods I paid for....

Anyway even if I do get my Google pay reinstated I'm probably just going to use credits. I don't trust them to use any reason or common sense in resolving disputes.

I refunded an item (that i initially paid with Google Pay) using Google pay, however, nothing came up on my activity page regarding a refund and nothing in my pending transactions section on my mobile banking. Can you even refund with Google Pay because I got the refund receipt from the shop but nothing on Google Pay / Bank.

(From the UK incase that makes a difference)