Google Maps yanks over 10,000 fake business listings – how to spot the scam
As a Google Maps user, I tend to assume that the listings I find in a search are real and legitimate. But that assumption could get me in trouble.
Google recently discovered more than 10,000 phony listings in Google Maps, CBS News reported on Wednesday. The listings ran the gamut from blatantly fake businesses to legitimate accounts that had been hacked or hijacked by cybercriminals. In response, Google removed the listings and has filed a lawsuit against the alleged scammers behind them.
The old bait-and-switch tactic
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado explained how one complaint uncovered a much wider plot.
The probe started after a Texas business complained to Google that an unlicensed locksmith was impersonating them on Google Maps. In this hacked listing, the scammers replaced the existing phone number with a number of their own. Any person calling the new number would have been directed to a different locksmith who might have charged the consumer an exorbitant fee to fix a lock. This one incident led Google to ultimately discover a much greater number of fake listings.
Also: 6 Google Maps tricks to try
Relying on the old bait-and-switch tactic, the particular scam was also successful because it targeted people in “duress verticals.” In these, the customer is usually in a vulnerable or urgent situation, such as being locked out of their home. The scammers count on this urgency to trick their victims, who may not realize they’re being scammed until it’s too late.
“Online profiles are extremely valuable to businesses as well as consumers,” Prado said in the CBS interview. “Small and medium businesses use those listings for word of mouth and discoverability. Consumers use the reviews for those listings to make decisions on what service to use or not to use. A fake profile and a fake review undermine the trust you have in that ecosystem.”
What did Google do when faced with a major scam like this?
The company not only removed the fraudulent listing but scanned for similar phony listings and removed them from Google Maps, Prado said. In some cases, the accounts that created the listings are blocked. With this type of scam, though, Google has taken the extra step of legal action. The lawsuit filed by the company on Wednesday charges that a man working with a wider network devised and sold phony business profiles for Google Maps.
Also: How to use the speedometer and speed limit in Google Maps on an iPhone
“Fake business listings are prohibited on Google Maps, and we use a range of tools to protect businesses and users,” Prado said in a statement shared with ZDNET. “This litigation builds on our efforts and sends a clear message that impersonation schemes will not be tolerated.”
How do you know if a business listed on Google Maps is legit?
In the interview, Prado shared some tips on avoiding these types of scams.
- Google partners with the Cybercrime Support Network, which offers a website called Scam Spotter. Here, you can learn about the latest scams and how to spot them.
- Check the website’s URL for the business. If the address doesn’t seem to match the business itself, then take a pause before you engage with them. Also, watch out for misspellings in the URL, another tipoff that this could be a scam site.
- Avoid any service asking you for more information than should be needed, such as your social security number.
Finally, watch out if the service is asking you to pay in an unconventional way, such as gift cards or wire transfers.
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