New Delhi, July 19, 2022: People frequently check Google reviews before visiting a new business, such as a restaurant, salon, or other facility. Google actively encourages users to leave evaluations on its various services, including Maps, Search, YouTube, and Maps.
By giving your opinions and experiences, you may improve the experience of the other consumer.
Because of this, receiving a negative review can be really bad news for businesses because it can cause a significant drop in their rating.
According to an article from The New York Times, scammers, who are primarily from India, give businesses one-star reviews.
The majority of the time, scammers will publish unfavorable evaluations of companies before requesting a Google Play Gift to have those ratings removed.
If their request is denied, they threaten to post more unfavorable reviews of the businesses.
According to The New York Times’ article, one email had the following statement: “We truly apologies for our actions and would not wish to harm your business, but we have no other choice. We see alternative methods to survive because we live in India.
It has been observed that scammers typically use emotional drama instead of making straight threats.
The article claims that the scammers continue to send mail until they are practically gagged for the money. “Please provide us a $75 Google Play gift card, we beseech you. We can make about $50 after selling this gift card, which is enough money to support one family for three weeks. Gift cards are the most common form of payment used by scammers since they are frequently difficult to trace.
Negative reviews are challenging to delete, and without Google’s help, no company can change their poor scores. In addition, Google made it clear that they are aware of these con artists.
We have learned about a fraud that threatens Google businesses with 1-star ratings until they send money in the form of gift cards.
Our employees are working around-the-clock to stop these attacks, get rid of the fake reviews, and secure any compromised business profiles.
After receiving negative evaluations, Google has warned businesses not to pay the con artists. Google also informed the companies that they have a choice if they wish to delete these evaluations. Businesses are urged to contact Google if the option does not function, according to Google.
