This is the company profiting from the obvious fraud, de-funding departments designed to block such frauds, and with a history of using their size to blunder past any legislative sanctions. I'm shocked, _shocked_ I tell you that the fraud benefiting them personally was allowed to go on for so long.
In less sarcastic news, I'm legitimately surprised it was dropped in only 3 months. That's a better than average outcome.
How is Google profiting from this fraud ? I doubt the scammers had any in-app purchases. Maybe ads, but I doubt it too since that would make it look unprofessional and invite more reviews from Google.
Also, I don't think it should fall onto Google to protect users from scams. They already provide tools against it, such as reviews on the app's page. It would be like saying the gov is responsible for my losses in a ponzi scheme because the company was registered officially.
Unless Google assertively promises users they are protected against scams on the Play Store, they aren't responsible in any way (other then that they try to make it safe because this increases revenue down the line, of course). Falling for a scam is personal responsibility.
While I obviously have no proof that this is what happened in this case, I've seen countless Google ads leading straight to fraud sites and scams like this.
Google also claims the 30% they skim off every legitimate transaction (which is insane) is necessary because they make sure the app store only has legit apps. They should be held to that claim.
In they case they aren't taking 30% since it's crypto (ie you are buying a """tangible""" external product), although you could argue that since the developer account needs to be bought, Google could be held liable this way ?
And I don't think I've since them claim such a thing. It would be strange of them to do so, as it opens them to lawsuits such as this.
In less sarcastic news, I'm legitimately surprised it was dropped in only 3 months. That's a better than average outcome.