Google accounts temporarily banned for reselling Google Pixels through online retailer

|
, , ,

Google started banning users that were reselling a Google Pixel through the reseller Dan’s Deals based in New Hampshire from their Google accounts. The main reason for re-selling on Dan’s Deals is because it operates out of New Hampshire (which doesn’t have sales tax), so the loophole was helping plenty of people resell their Pixel devices they purchased through Google’s Project Fi service and make a profit.

About 200 people had been affected, stating that they were locked out of their account to access services such as Gmail, Drive, Photos, along with other Google Services. Interestingly enough, the reseller has been offering other phones in the past and hasn’t received any kind of issue such as this one.

Gizmodo received a statement from a Google spokesperson about the suspension.

We identified a scheme in which consumers were asked to purchase Pixel devices on behalf of a reseller, who then marked-up the cost of those devices in order to resell them to other customers. We prohibit the commercial resale of devices purchased through Project Fi or the Google Store so everyone has an equal opportunity to purchase devices at a fair price. Many of the accounts suspended were created for the sole purpose of this scheme, but since some customers were not aware of these Terms of Sale and are now locked out of many Google services they rely on, we’re restoring access to these customers’ accounts.

Luckily, those affected users are receiving this message.

Hello Google user,

Your Google Account was suspended as part of our fraud prevention efforts, based on violations of our Terms of Service and Terms of Sale for Devices. After reviewing your appeal, we are re-enabling your account.

Google takes violations of our terms very seriously, and we ask that you review relevant terms and product policies to ensure that you understand them. Repeated violations of our terms may lead to account termination.

In order to access your Google account, please sign in. When you sign in, you will be asked to verify a security code via SMS. Once you verify the code, you will be able to access your account again.

Last but not least, we wanted to remind you that Google users can always export and download their data from Google products like Gmail, Photos, and Drive while their account is active. In a few easy steps, you can create an archive to keep for your records or backup your data to another service. More information about backing up your data can be found at google.com/takeout.

Have any of you been locked out of your Google accounts by going through Dan’s Deals? What are your thoughts about Google taking this step on banning some folks from their own accounts though they have already been restored? Let us know by leaving your comments down below, or on Google+, Facebook, or Twitter.

[button link=”http://gizmodo.com/google-bans-hundreds-of-accounts-for-participating-in-p-1789155619″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Gizmodo[/button]
Previous

AirSelfie drone fits into a smartphone case

Create immersive 360° HD content with ORBI Prime

Next

Latest Articles

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap