The Google Play Store is rarely short of hoaxes. The popular Android app market is often found in scandals involving the publishing of dangerous and malicious apps that put the data of users in the hands of hackers.

Lately, an even more interesting fraudulent activity has surfaced via the same Play Store. Many users have raised concerns over unauthorized transactions and the one that stands out is the Google Proxima Beta fraud.

A good number of affected persons have come out to speak following the loss of huge amounts of money through these fraudulent Play Store transactions.

Google-Proxima-Beta-fraud
(Source 1)

Today there are two transactions done from my Credit card of Rs 7900 and Rs 79 which I have not done so far nor I had purchased any thing from play store The payments shown towards Google *Proxima Beta so reverse the payment and refund it
Source

From the look of things, not even canceling card details from the Google Play Store, blocking Google Proxima Beta through the call center, freezing the card, or even sending feedback to Google is helping mitigate this issue.

Google-Play-Store-Proxima-bug
(Source)

Google Proxima Beta transactions are billed by the Singapore-based “Proxima Beta” company associated with Tencent Mobile – the company behind the popular PUBG. Granted, it’s possible that affected accounts have in the past made in-app purchases on Tencent-owned apps.

Apparently, the fraudsters deduct a small amount of money and refund it back within seconds. However, it is the subsequent transactions coming after that are concerning users thanks to the huge amounts of money being deducted from their bank accounts.

On the 27 th April you have tacken money out off my account thay took out £92.12 I haven’t given you premmsion to tack money out off my account so I would lick my money back asap o hope to hear from you soon
Source

The multiple transactions are made possible thanks to the support for recurring payments on most debit cards – a function that makes it possible for players like Netflix to auto-bill monthly subscription fees from your account without any authorization.

Google has yet to make any official communication on this matter even though it has already hit the consumer complaints court. Either way, it should soon get to the search giant’s attention and hopefully, a fix will be made available sooner than later.

Meanwhile, Google has a form that affected users can fill out to report such frauds and even claim a refund.

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Hillary Keverenge
2042 Posts

Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.

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