Avoid common payment scams

You can make purchases and send money to your family and friends you trust with Google Pay. Sometimes, bad actors might try to use Google Pay to steal money from you. To help protect you from scams, follow these guidelines.

Important: Google does not have the ability to reverse Pix transactions. Once a Pix payment is complete, your financial institution is the only entity allowed to interfere in your transactions. For that reason, if you’re subject to scam, contact your financial institution.

Be attentive when you make Pix payments with Google Pay

Important:

When you use Pix to transfer money or make purchases, ensure you are aware of who you are sending money to.
Pay attention to odd behavior or requests for money from unknown parties as it may be a sign of a scam.
Before you finalize a payment, always confirm the amount and the name of the person or business you intend to pay.

How scammers initiate scams

Scammers often post fake online advertisements or start deceptive online conversations about:

Items for sale, like tickets to concerts or sporting events, electronics, vehicles, pets, or shipment fees.
Personal relationships, like a person looking for romance, or someone who pretends to be a close family or friend
Services, like tech support.
Financial help, like debt relief or a loan.
Jobs, real estate, or money-making opportunities.
Apartment rentals or anything else for rent.

If you show interest, the scammer can ask you to transfer money first or even show you a fake shipping receipt to convince you items are on their way. But the item won’t arrive, and the scammer will keep the money.

Only transfer money to familiar people or businesses

To help avoid most scams, only transact with people or businesses you know.

Often, scammers try to trick you into acting fast without thinking by enticing you with deals that are too good to be true, emotional topics, or fake businesses that sound real. Check for spelling discrepancies, deals that end if you don’t act immediately, or other details that you'd miss if you weren't paying close attention.

Protect your financial details and other sensitive information

If someone requests personal financial details or other sensitive information on Google Pay, it’s a scam.

Important: You should only enter sensitive info for use with Google Pay in the Wallet app or at pay.google.com.

Google customer service or tech support will never ask for:

Your passwords, passcodes, or password reset link.
Personal identification numbers (PIN).
Debit or credit card info.
Payment information, like payment account numbers.
Personal information, like financial details and personal identification numbers.
You can download an app to receive support or solve a problem.

If you’re asked to do any of these things, it’s a scam.

Learn about common scams

Important: This is a non-exhaustive list of potential scam scenarios.

Tip: You can also review the Febraban guide.

Failure to pay scam

When you sell something, a scammer can pose as an interested buyer. After you agree on a price, they’ll offer to pay through money transfer after they receive the item. In the end, however, they don't pay.

Tip: Scammers often send fake Google Pay screenshots that make it seem like they made a payment.

Impersonation scams

A scammer can pretend to be someone you know or are familiar with, like your financial institution.

Customer service or tech support scam

Sometimes, scammers pose as Google customer service or tech support to request money transfers. Customer service or tech support from Google will never ask for:

Your passwords, passcodes, or password reset link
Debit or credit card info
You to download an app to receive support or solve a problem

If you’re asked to do any of these things, it’s a scam.

For Google support, visit google-support.mirrorblogs.com.

WhatsApp cloning scam

To gain access to your account, a scammer can pose as someone you know, and convince you to share a WhatsApp verification code. With access to the victim’s WhatsApp account, the scammer asks their contacts for money.

Fake QR codes

A scammer can pretend to be a retailer, and provide a fake QR code.

Tip: After scanning a QR code, carefully read the recipient's information.

Impersonation of a loved one scam

A scammer can create a fake account with a picture of a loved one. They then contact the victim to ask for money, oftentimes creating urgency to send money or something undesirable will happen.

Legal action scam

A scammer contacts you and states that you have a legal action pending against you. For example, the scammer might state that you must pay immediately for traffic tickets or a missed court date to avoid being arrested. To avoid a scam, contact the relevant authority directly.

Tax bill or debt scam

A scammer can contact you and say you owe back taxes or a debt and must make a money transfer to avoid consequences. Then, the scammer requests that you pay back the fake taxes or debt to complete the scam. To avoid a scam, contact the relevant authority directly.

Loved ones in need or romance scams

A scammer can pretend that a loved one is in trouble and needs money.

Loved one in need scam

A scammer contacts you posing as an authority figure with knowledge of your loved one. They may suggest that your loved one is in need, or kidnapped, and requires a money transfer to get help, like medical, legal, or travel assistance. To avoid a scam, contact your loved one directly or family members with knowledge of their situation before considering any money transfers.

Romance scam

A scammer may create an online post or contact you directly. They make promises about starting a romantic relationship, and suggest that they need money to get out of a bad situation or travel to you. Then, if you pay, the scammer may either disappear or continue to request money.

Make money or prize scams

A scammer can pretend that you’ve won money or can easily win money.

Make money quick scam

A scammer requests money and says they’ll invest it to send you back more. This is always a scam.

Prize winner scam

A scammer contacts you and states that you’ve won a contest, sweepstakes, or lottery and must pay taxes or a fee to claim your prize. Then, the scammer requests that you pay fake taxes or a fee to complete the scam.

Avoid other types of suspicious requests

Scammers can pose as customer support or use phone calls, emails, text messages and pages to pretend to be institutions, family members, or colleagues.

Important: Never download apps or software for payments support. Google will never ask you to download an app or software for payments support. If you’re asked to download an app or software for payments support, it’s a scam that could be used to drain your accounts.

Avoid suspicious requests

Never give out your passwords. Google will never ask for your password in an email, message, or phone call.
Never give out your personal or financial info. Don’t reply to suspicious emails, texts, instant messages, pages, or phone calls that ask for your personal or financial info.
Never click links in emails, messages, pages, or pop-ups from unknown websites or senders.

Avoid suspicious calls

When you receive a call from an unknown number, be very alert. If they claim to be calling from your financial institution, retailer, or insurance but you don’t recognize them, be wary. If the conversation turns to asking for information about government IDs, documents, personal financial data like your PIN or payment institution account number, do not share these details.

Important: Things you should never do in case of a suspicious call or message:

Do not accept any payment requests for an instant transaction, especially while on the call or while online, where the caller says they’re on standby.
Do not click on a link sent over SMS or email.
Do not download or install an app or file while on call.
Do not share your phone screen with software or a web link they send you.
Do not reveal your CPF, or any payment institution details over the phone.
Do not fill out an online form, even if it looks legitimate. Scammers often create fake web pages that appear familiar or genuine, with logos and designs that resemble your payment institution or app.

Avoid suspicious emails

Gmail is designed to help protect your account by automatically identifying suspicious emails. You can also use these tips to help you identify suspicious emails and settings:

Check if a Gmail message might be fake.
See if the email address and the sender name match.
If you get a suspicious email in Gmail, report spam or phishing to help us stop similar emails in the future.
Check your Gmail settings to make sure there’s no unfamiliar activity.

Tip: If you're using Gmail on your computer, point to a link without clicking on it. At the bottom left, look at the web address and make sure it's what you expect.

Avoid suspicious pages

Google Chrome and Search are designed to warn you about suspicious content and unwanted software.

Learn how to manage these warnings in Chrome and Search.

Avoid requests or payments from scammers posing as your friends or family

With social media, it’s easier than ever for scammers to get information and pictures they can use to pose as friends or family members online. If someone who’s not in your contact list requests money, Google Pay will alert you when you try to make a payment.

If the person isn’t someone you know: Tap Block and report as spam. When you report spam, Google can use that information to help block the scammer in the future.
If the person appears to be someone you know, reach out to the person directly with the contact info you normally use to communicate with them.
- If they did send the request for money or payment, you can decide whether you want to complete the request.
- If they did not send the request for money or payment, the request is likely a scam. Decline the request.

Learn about Google Pay user policies

For more information about policies, prohibited transactions, how to report abusive or illegal activities on Google Pay, and when users violate our policies, read the Google Pay User Policies.

Protect your Google Account to help secure Google Pay

Report scams & fraud on Pix

If you encountered fraud or scam while using Pix with Google Pay, follow these steps:

Important: Immediately contact your financial institution for further assistance through their Customer Services channels.

If your device was stolen, take action to secure both your device and your Google Account.
Report suspicious Pix payments initiated with Google Pay to Google using this form.

Additionally, you can report scams and fraud to the Central Bank of Brazil, which is responsible for the supervision of financial institutions.

Tip: To remove your account used for Pix, follow these instructions.