Security News > 2020 > January > Google halts paid-for Chrome extension updates amid fraud surge: Web Store in lockdown 'due to the scale of abuse'

On Saturday, Google temporarily disabled the ability to publish paid Chrome apps, extensions, and themes in the Chrome Web Store due to a surge in fraud.

"Earlier this month the Chrome Web Store team detected a significant increase in the number of fraudulent transactions involving paid Chrome extensions that aim to exploit users," said Simeon Vincent, developer advocate for Chrome Extensions, in a post to the Chromium Extensions forum.

The Chrome Web Store has a one-time payment system called Chrome Web Store Payments.

For Chrome Apps, which soon will be phased out in Chrome, developers can use a Google Payments Merchant Account and Chrome Web Store API to sell in-app virtual goods.

In an email to The Register, Jeff Johnson, who runs Lapcat Software, which makes macOS and iOS audio apps and a privacy extension for Chrome and Safari called StopTheMadness, said that existing extensions remain accessible in the Chrome Web Store, but updates and new extensions are being rejected.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/27/google_disables_web_store/