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I just took advantage of the $0.10 promotion of several apps on the Android Market.

However, I noticed that I can buy apps by just selecting my saved credit card. There is no further verification process (AFAIK).

Can I make this more secure, for instance with some sort of password?

I mean, if I should lose my phone, someone can just buy apps without any further verification.

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    Only if you don't have a secure screen lock set, someone could buy apps. But why should one do that besides to harm you? He wouldn't have any benefit from it, since the purchases are linked with your account. Maybe it's different with Google Music.
    – Flow
    Commented Dec 7, 2011 at 17:51

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Don't save your credit card info. (Edit: Just tried, you can't enter info without it being saved. Ugh.) You can set up a PIN in the Market but that's easily worked around by clearing the data. Google Wallet (Checkout) doesn't appear to have any security settings beyond needing to log in, though obviously saved credentials work on Android.

I think then that your only option (besides using another market) is to use full encryption on the device such as is present in Honeycomb in combination with a lock screen and not being rooted. Which doesn't rule out exploits, but if there was no risk of your CC being used nefariously then it wouldn't be usable by you either :P. Of course, if your phone is stolen you could just cancel your cards and/or let your credit card company know about the risk or actuality of unauthorized purchases.

Google will also help you fix it:

Account Hijacking

If you previously created a Google Wallet Account, and an unauthorized person has accessed your account, please contact us immediately. Our fraud protection policy covers you against any unauthorized purchases that were made with your Google Account. If we find that an unauthorized purchase was made, we'll make sure you aren't charged for it.

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  • Can I enter my credit card while buying an app from the phone ? And than don't save the credit card info ?
    – Edelcom
    Commented Dec 7, 2011 at 16:47
  • @Edelcom I recall doing that in a 2.x version of the Market but I just tried and you can't seem to do it now :(. It would require logging into your Wallet account to remove the info. Google is dumb :P. You could always use an alternative Market like YAAM if you can endure the evils of PayPal, but I suppose that doesn't get you the promotions.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Dec 7, 2011 at 16:52
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Press Menu -> Settings in Market. Then Set or change PIn, and set a new PIN Check the Use PIN for purchases checkbox

Then you should be done.

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