Google defends Play Store after Hyderabad cyber crime police name India head
Google on Wednesday said it has initiated an immediate investigation after being alerted about alleged cyber fraud cases involving investment apps and found that only one of them was available on the Play Store and complies with its financial services policy.
The comment from the tech giant assumes significance as Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police has named the “Head of Google in India” as a co-accused in three cyber fraud cases in which the complainants alleged that fraudsters cheated them in the name of high returns to their investments by making them download “fake” apps from Google Play Store.
“Google Play strictly prohibits all forms of deception. We investigated this issue as soon as we were alerted, and confirmed that only one app was available on the Play Store. Our reviews reveal that the app complies with Play’s financial services policy,” a Google spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further said Google reviews valid legal removal requests when notified through the correct legal processes “and, where appropriate, we restrict or remove apps in keeping with local laws”.
In the Hyderabad cases, complainants have alleged that they downloaded the fraudulent trading applications, believing them to be genuine and trustworthy because they were available in the Google Play Store.
Based on the three separate complaints, police registered cases under relevant sections of the IT Act and BNS against the fraudsters and the Google India Head.
A senior police official said that they are in the process of issuing a notice to Google India seeking information about such apps.
The complainant stated that the accused, through the fraudulent investment platform, whose app is available on the Play Store, dishonestly induced him to transfer huge sums of money on the false promise of high investment returns and then refused to release his funds.
He alleged that due to Google authorities’ failure to restrict and moderate content on the Play Store, he suffered financial loss of Rs 24.37 lakhs.
The complainant sought legal action against the persons who cheated him, besides “the Head of Google in India”.
In another case, a 40-year-old man, in a complaint filed on July 14, alleged that the fraudsters cheated him of Rs 17 lakh through a fake securities platform in the name of trading. He said he was unable to withdraw the invested money when he tried to do so.
He stated that he was sent an app link and told to download the application from the Google Play Store, which he did, and invested money as instructed by the accused.
The complainants also alleged that despite having content moderation, app review, and advertisement verification mechanisms, Google Authorities (Google Play Store) failed to exercise due diligence in preventing the publication and distribution of the fraudulent application on its platform.
In another similar case, a 71-year-old retired Government employee filed a complaint on June 30, stating he was cheated of Rs 7.42 lakh in investment fraud through the fake trading and investment application of a company.
