Google sues alleged scammers over 10,000 fake Maps listings
1 min read
Summary
On Wednesday, Google filed a lawsuit against a scammer who created 10,000 fake business profiles on Google Maps, after being tipped off by a locksmith in Texas who discovered someone was impersonating them.
The scammer, who is said to be part of a wider network of criminals, sold the fake listings for profit.
Once Google is alerted to fraudulent activity, it takes “extreme efforts” to identify similar suspicious listings, according to its general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado.
Scammers use Google Maps to dupe customers in a variety of ways, including tricking them into believing they have found a genuine business listing; providing a service to victims who arrive and then charging them an inflated fee; or routing them to a call centre, where they are persuaded to pay for a service that is never provided.
The company said it removed or blocked 12m fake business profiles on Google Maps last year.