Google Play social Engineering policy: fixes and checks
By The Draftbit team · Updated
Sources checked
This guide is for Apps that pretend to be another trusted app to influence a user's actions.
This rule prohibits using another app’s apparent identity to trick users into doing something. The action might be a login, permission grant, installation, or payment intended for the trusted app.
What to check
Inspect overlays, copied screens, branded prompts, and transitions to third-party services. Ask whether a user can tell which app is asking and what will happen next.
Review ads and SDK-delivered prompts too. Your normal UI may be clear while a remote prompt impersonates a different product.
How to address the rejection
Remove the deceptive flow and make your app’s identity explicit. Use authorized integrations and hand off to the real service when authentication or approval belongs there.
Test the full sequence from notification or ad to the final action. Give reviewers the triggering steps and show the corrected identity and destination. A disclaimer elsewhere in the app doesn’t fix a prompt designed to borrow another app’s trust.
Messages this guide can help with
Social Engineering; Social Engineering policy violation; Social Engineering rejection; Social Engineering denied
Official sources
We checked these instructions against the sources below. The console layout may change, and your review decision may call for different steps.
- Google Play: Social Engineering Checked 22 September 2026