Google ban on illegal gift cards causes financial losses

ERBIL, Kurdistan - Google started blocking Google Play gift cards that are illegally sold in countries where the service is officially unavailable, including Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, resulting in massive financial losses to those who had purchased them from US suppliers. 

Google blocked the gift cards towards the end of 2021 without any prior warning, according to sellers of the cards in the Kurdistan Region. The cards were blocked across Iraq due to being illegally sold in the country. 

"I have 46 gift cards, each is worth $50. I would say I have lost $2,600 in damages, " Sarbast Mohammed, a seller of Google Play gift cards told Rudaw.

"A lot of people are financially damaged. I personally have lost $1,000 to $1,500. There are people out there who have lost $40,000, 50,000 even $60,000 in damages,” another seller, Masoud Zeyad, said. 

Without much elaboration on the issue at hand, a Communications Manager at Google, Marwa Khost Jarkas, said the issue lied with the fact that "Google Play gift cards are currently unavailable in Iraq."