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.
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.
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.
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
- Make sure your phone is up-to-date with security updates.
- Add recovery info to avoid being locked out.
- Add more security with 2-Step Verification.
- Learn how to make your account more secure.
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.