Blocking Contacts
Open your phone and go to the Google Pay app. Click on it and enter your four-digit pin to access the app. On the main page of the app is a list of your contacts. These are the contacts that Google automatically collects from your phone and email lists. Basically, any person who knows your Google Pay number can send you a request for money. Select the contact that you suspect is trying to get money or your financial information from you. Tap on the number of the person to open that person’s interaction with you on the app. If the number is saved in your phonebook, tap on More. A list of options will pop up. Locate the Block option, and click on it. The number will no longer have access to your profile on the Google Pay app. On the other hand, if the number is not saved on your device, clicking on the number will automatically bring up the block option, which you can select to block the number.
Types of Google Pay Frauds to Avoid
- A person contacts you to buy something or use your service in return for payment via the Google app, but instead of sending you a request to pay money to your account, they make a request for your account to send them money instead. If you don’t consider the exact wording of the request carefully, you may say yes to the wrong kind of transaction and lose money. To make the process less confusing, Google Pay shows an arrow pointing from the account that is paying the money to the account that receiving the money. Pay close attention to the arrow.
- Certain numbers that repeatedly try to commit scams on Google Pay come under the app’s radar, and Google will add a warning that the number may be spam when you try to send or receive information from the number.
- Knockoff apps pretending to be Google Pay by mimicking the logo and appearance of the app can be accidentally downloaded. Once you use such an app to send or receive money, your financial information becomes accessible to scammers.
- A person contacts you on Google Pay but directs you to a new app or website to complete the transaction instead of using Google Pay itself. Needless to say, this is a scam, unless the person can come up with a legitimate reason for choosing another venue for the transaction, and that venue itself is trustworthy and safe to use.
Conclusion
Google Pay makes for convenient online financial transactions, but it can also be the ideal place for scammers to try to get to your money. That is why it is important that you only use the app to make payments to accounts that you are completely sure are legitimate, and block any new number that you suspect of being a fraud.