Android In-App Payments Abuse Nightmares: Why Google Is Complicit

UPDATE (May 26, 2018): To be clear about this, I would so much prefer that Google had an Ombudsman, Ombudsman team, or similar set of roles internally, to deal with situations as described in this updated post. While I’m glad to try help when I can, and I greatly thank Google for their quick response in this case and the issuing of a full refund to this Android user, it shouldn’t require public actions from someone on the outside of Google like me to drive the appropriate resolution of such cases.

UPDATE (May 25, 2018): I’ve just been informed that a full refund has now been issued in the case I discussed in my post below from yesterday. I hope that the general class of issues described therein, especially the presence of expensive in-app “virtual” purchases targeted at children — and the specific operations of Android parental control mechanisms — will still be addressed going forward. In the meantime, my great thanks to Google for quickly doing the right thing in this case of a (now very happy) Android user and her child. 

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Should an Android app aimed at children include a $133 in-app purchase for worthless virtual merchandise? If you’re the kind of crook who runs fake real estate “universities” and stiffs your workers via multiple bankruptcies, you’d probably see nothing wrong with this. But most ethical people might wonder why Google would permit such an abomination. Is the fact that they take a substantial cut of each such transaction clouding their usually excellent ethical sensibilities in this case? Or is Google somehow just unaware, underestimating, or de-emphasizing the scope of these problems?

Complaints regarding in-app Android purchases arrive at my inbox with notable regularity. But one that arrived recently really grabbed my attention. Rather than attempt to summarize it, I’m including extended portions of it below (anonymized and with the permission of the authors).

Beyond the details of how parental locks and Google Play Store payment systems are designed and the ways in which they could be greatly improved, a much more fundamental problem is at the core of these issues. 

I have long considered in-app purchase models to be open for enormous abuse. Where they are used to “unlock” actual capabilities in non-gaming applications, they can play a useful role. But their use for the purchase of worthless “virtual” goods or points in games, especially when total purchases over the lifetimes of the games can add up to more than a few dollars, are difficult to justify. They are impossible to justify in games that are targeted at children. 

Though apparently entirely legal, it is unconscionable that Google permits these sorts of apps to exploit children and their parents, and then refuses to offer full refunds to parents who have been victimized as a result, particularly when those parents have attempted to diligently use the payment control mechanisms that are currently available.

Not Googley at all. Shame on you, Google.

–Lauren–

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Hi Lauren,

Thanks so much for considering this. is:  @gmail.com  – she’s fine with you sharing that with Google.

If it can happen to someone of her education what hope do the rest of us have… let alone a 4-year old who can’t read. She says also it’s fine to share her story, fully anonymised … It’s pretty horrible and I suspect also pretty widespread too….

On 05/23 09:16, wrote:

hi Lauren,

I’m sure you’ve heard lots of these kinda stories, so your indulgence is requested. Friend of mine – who holds a doctorate in business, no less – got a bill for around GBP 650 after her 4-year old daughter was able to buy in-game despite parental locks. Or, that’s what my friend thought: Google said that updating the unit could wipe out those locks. And no refund is thus forthcoming. She has contacted the app developers too but obviously they’re happy enough with her money so nothing doing there.

Two things:

(1) Why does an update clear locks? This is surely bad practice?

(2) How the hell can anyone justify a GBP 100 in-app purchase in a game directed at toddlers? This one can’t read yet and as we know, kids are experts on using touchscreen tech before any language skills develop.

P.S. any advice welcome – thanks loads

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My 4 year old loves watching . On (Freeview) one of her favourite cartoons is . She loves this so much that she asked if she could download on my mobile phone to play. I obliged and made the usual checks; no ads, and parental locks engaged. She then asked to download another similar game; . She absolutely loves this game, and for a 4 year old, she’s got pretty good at it… certainly better than me and her big sis.

Again, I made sure parental lock and no ads were ticked within the app…. Last Friday I received a telephone call from the Fraud dept. at  Credit Card, they suspected fraudulent activity on my card – in fact one transaction of GBP 99.99 and another of GBP 1.99 had gone on my card that morning.. and I hadn’t even left my house. I was obviously shocked and concerned – they said the payee was Google Play.

They asked if I had an android phone and whether I let me kids play on the phone. I said yes, but all games are ‘locked down’ so to speak. She asked me to go into my phone to check… to my sheer horror, I saw a long list of  ‘in-app’ purchases made by my 4 year old within the space (mostly) of three weeks. Now I usually check my credit card spends at the end of every month, and I hadn’t got around to checking for this month. I quickly toted up the separate transactions and figured that she had burned GBP 498.88  buying ‘.. GBP 99.99 and ‘ 1.99/ 29.99’ within the game.

I was totally in shock and rightly upset. Of course this wasn’t her fault  – she can’t read.. but how can an app associated with a children’s cartoon think its OK to embed in app purchases within their game … Google have informed me that updating my android can wipe out all the parental locks etc, and I have to check/ re-engage all locks etc after EVERY software upgrade. I contacted Google, and they have disappointingly refunded only GBP 70.00 – stating that its outside their T&Cs and that I need to request a refund from ; the App developers.

I’ve emailed , they haven’t bothered to respond (I’ve waited 72 hours and counting now) . I’ve also contacted Credit Card, and they’ve said that they won’t help me… Surely this is ‘Soft Fraud’ and this is unethical and wrong… so parents please beware. This has and still is really upsetting for both me and my daughter. Please share and just be hyper careful on your phones. Here is most of her spending spree!! 

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