The Indian government has ordered Google to shut down hundreds of Firebase accounts that have been linked to online and bank scams, affecting many people in the country. These scams have become a major
issue in India over the last few years and most of it is linked to the rise of digital payments and use of apps and UPI to easily transfer money.
Most people might know much about Firebase over at Google but it is a critical part of building the mobile apps that we see on the Play Store across billions of devices. And linking them with online scams has made it an obvious channel to block and help protect the people in the country.
What Is Firebase And How It Works
Firebase is Google’s app development platform that was launched in 2025 which is free to use for developers as well as comes in a pay-as-you-go model with the Blaze plan. The apps are hosted on the cloud which gives Google full control over its credibility and making sure that legitimate apps are available through the Firebase developer accounts.
Google launched Firebase to simplify the process to launch apps with all the back-end services running within the system and don’t need a separate infrastructure to keep them hosted.
Why Has Indian Govt Ordered Google To Shut Down Firebase Accounts?
The Indian government is worried about the misuse of Firebase accounts by scammers who seem to be relishing the use of free tools and cloud hosting for their own malicious agenda.
The country’s regime has not demanded Firebase to be shut down entirely but orders better security checks and removal of certain suspicious accounts that have been using Firebase to attack innocent users.
What Did Scammers Use Firebase Accounts For And How?
The concerns have been there for a while but the government has notified Google that some of the Firebase accounts were used to create phishing websites disguised as popular banks like SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank that hosts millions of customers online through their original websites.
That’s not all, some other Firebase-hosted websites are said to have been created to steal data from the customer’s phone that includes their bank card details and even access the OTP passwords linked to their accounts.
The concerns have sparked because one of the government schemes was PM-KISAN that pays small farmers Rs 2,000 every four months. The scammers used these tricks to get people to install the malicious apps and claim to help them get their money.
The government has been alerting about such scams before but this is the first instance when Firebase accounts have been called out and Google will have to act on them now to help people and also block access for these scammers.
