Small businesses are under siege from a growing scam that Google seems powerless—or unwilling—to stop
If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably heard horror stories about fake reviews. But what’s happening with Google Business Profiles right now goes far beyond isolated incidents—it’s become a full-blown extortion racket.
The Scam That’s Destroying Small Businesses
Here’s how it works: fraudsters target businesses by leaving detailed, convincing one-star reviews on their Google Business Profiles. Then comes the kicker—they contact the business owner directly, offering to remove these damaging reviews for a fee.
The scale of this problem has become staggering. Visit the r/GoogleMyBusiness subreddit and you’ll find it’s practically unusable. The community has become so overrun with scammers that business owners are being warned not to even mention their company names in posts—criminals are actively monitoring the forum to identify new targets for their extortion schemes.
Think about that for a moment. A support community for business owners has been completely overrun by extortionists.
Google’s Deafening Silence
Perhaps most frustrating is Google’s response—or lack thereof. Whether it’s institutional indifference or genuine inability to police the platform, the result is the same: business owners are left defenseless against these attacks.
Reports suggest that The New York Times is investigating Google’s failure to address this blackmail scheme, though we can’t verify those claims. What we can verify is that countless small businesses are suffering while Google profits from the very platform being weaponized against them.
What to Do When Your Business Gets Targeted
Unfortunately, your options are limited, but here’s what you can try:
Step 1: Flag the Review
- Go to business.google.com
- Click the “Reviews” tab on the left panel
- Find the fake review and click the three vertical dots to its right
- Select “Flag as inappropriate”
- Mark it as “spam/fake content” for your best chance of removal
Reality check: This rarely works, but itโs your first line of defense.
Step 2: Legal Removal Request
If flagging fails (and it probably will), Google does have a legal removal request form. Choose the “Google Maps” option and follow the instructions. We haven’t found verified success stories with this method, but it’s worth trying.
Step 3: Dilute the Damage
Encourage satisfied customers to leave genuine reviews. This won’t remove the fake ones, but it can help minimize their impact on your overall rating and customer perception.
The Harsh Reality
One business owner we spoke with paid $500 to someone in Bangladesh to remove eight fake reviews—and it actually worked. We absolutely do not recommend this approach, but it illustrates the desperation many business owners feel when facing this extortion.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
For small service-based businesses, Google Business Profile reviews can make or break your reputation. When potential customers see multiple one-star reviews—even fake ones—they often move on to competitors without a second thought.
This isn’t just about hurt feelings or wounded pride. These attacks directly impact revenue, employee livelihoods, and the dreams of small business owners who’ve poured everything into their companies.
The Bigger Picture
This extortion epidemic highlights a fundamental problem with big tech platforms: they create the infrastructure that enables abuse but often fail to protect the small businesses that depend on them.
While we wait for Google to take meaningful action—if they ever do—small business owners must stay vigilant and know their options, limited as they may be.
Have you experienced this scam? We’d love to hear your story and any successful strategies you’ve used to combat it. Your experience could help other small business owners facing similar attacks.
Protecting your business’s online reputation shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. At Muzes AI Marketing, we help small service-based businesses build robust digital marketing strategies that can withstand these challenges. Learn more about our reputation management and lead generation services.
