A scam is a fraudulent scheme that deceives people to give away money or personal information. Below are some tips to help you identify scams related to reviews and ratings, and steps that you can take if you think that you’ve been impacted by one.
Tips to spot a scam
- Watch out for messages, emails or phone calls from unknown contacts that request or offer a financial transaction.
- For example, a scammer offers you money to rate or review a business on Google Maps that you haven’t visited. Once they establish trust, they may demand money in exchange for more similar jobs.
- Watch out for people who ask you to transfer money through gift cards, vouchers and cryptocurrency, etc. to take an action on Google Maps or other Google services.
- For example, a scammer asks you to pay them to give your place or business a 5-star review. If you refuse, they may threaten to leave 1-star reviews until you financially compensate them.
- Beware of people who claim to represent Google or any other company, but contact you without a company-related email address and share links to suspicious websites.
- For example, a scammer sends you an invoice to use or list your business on Google Maps, even though there is no cost to create a Business Profile and list your business on Google.
Important: Scams are designed to create a sense of urgency. No reputable institution demands payment for your personal information on the spot. Learn more about scams.
Report suspicious activity
If you find content or a profile that you believe violates our policies, report them immediately:
- Report and fix inappropriate content
- Report inappropriate user profile
- Report a violation by a third-party profile management agency
Important: You can also file a report to government agencies. Learn more about reporting to government agencies.
How Google Maps handles scammers
We don’t tolerate scammers. Google Maps constantly monitors for fraudulent content. When we find scammers, we take a range of actions against them which includes:
- Content removal
- Account suspension
- Litigation
Related resources
- If you’re a business owner, please refer to our policy on how to claim your business on Google Maps.