Summary
- Google has filed a lawsuit against a network of scammers who created and sold over 10,000 fake business listings on Google Maps, targeting vulnerable users with urgent service needs.
- The scammers used “bait and switch” methods, intercepted calls, and created fake reviews to deceive users and inflate prices, often exploiting individuals in stressful situations.
- Google is taking aggressive action to combat fraud, having removed millions of fake listings and vowing to protect users, with plans to donate any lawsuit damages to anti-scam organizations.
Navigation apps are an indispensable tool that millions rely on for getting directions. Some of the best navigation apps currently available on the market include Google Maps, Waze, and Apple Maps, with Google Maps holding onto the highest market share of the bunch. The application has been downloaded more than 10 billion times on the Play Store, and boasts over 2 billion monthly active users.
Not only does Google Maps serve as an intuitive navigation app, it also helps users scout areas, discover local businesses, figure out the least busy time to visit a place, find user reviews, and more. Unfortunately, though, the widespread use serves as a double-edged sword, with scammers now increasingly targeting Google Maps users with illegitimate and fake business listings.
The tech giant has reportedly filed a lawsuit against an alleged network of scammers, as highlighted by CBS News, for creating and exploiting over 10,000 fraudulent business listings on Google Maps.
Their modus operandi? The bait and switch method. According to the report, these scammers primarily made fraudulent listings of services that people might need in emergencies or during stressful situations — think locksmiths, plumbers, roadside assistance, and akin.
The scammers would then intercept calls made to real businesses via “lead generation services” or directly via fake listings, and divert customers to their own fraudulent business. The end goal: to charge the unsuspecting victim inflated prices — which many are bound to pay, considering that they’re stuck in an urgent or stressful situation.
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Google also found that these scammers worked with “agents around the world” to boost their socials and expand their reach with fake 5-star reviews.
The tech giant was alerted to the issue when a company from Texas reported an impersonating locksmith. Further investigation led to sophisticated operation being exposed. “Once we’re alerted to the actual fraud, we take extreme efforts to identify similar fraudulent listings,” Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel, told CBS. “Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated,” Prado added.
This isn’t the tech giant’s first foray into removing fake businesses. In 2023, Google Maps took down roughly 12 million fake business profiles, up by 1 million from the year prior. The tech giant intends to donate any damages it gets awarded in the new lawsuit to organizations fighting scams.
