Caution: Google Business Listing Fraud

Have you ever received a call from Google warning that your listing has an “issue”? Have your clients?

The other day, I received a call from someone implying they were from Google. It went to voicemail and said:

This is Alan from the business help center… We’re having an urgent issue with your Google Business listing and need you to call us at your earliest convenience [number redacted]. That’s [number redacted]. Now, our office is closed at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time today, so please call us back before then. And if you think you’ve received this message in error, call us back and let us know. But again, we are having an urgent issue with your Google Business listing- specifically on Google Maps with Google’s new AI and need you to call us at your earliest convenience… Thank you. Talk to you soon.

That was nice of them to call me. If there’s a problem with Google Maps or Google’s new AI (which really scares me), then I’d want to know and do something about it!

However…

This call isn’t from Google.

Read carefully (or listen carefully if you answer this call): it’s from the “business help center.” This ambiguous entity does not explicitly state that it is Google, but I hope you think that’s true.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with Google’s help document about these calls. In short, in the extremely rare circumstances where Google calls you, it will be clear that it is from Google, and it will never attempt to collect money or personal information from you.

What do they want from you?

They might be trying to sell you a service. They start by creating a sense of fear (“Oh no! Something’s wrong with my listing!”) or praying on your uncertainty with technology (“Oh no! AI is hurting me- somehow!”). With this fear, they want to upsell you for some service (or fee) that solves the problem- whether or not the problem exists.

Don’t forget: we’ve written an entire local listing process for you to follow.

They might be trying to access your private information. In the worst case, they want to get some information from you to benefit them- and possibly hurt you. For instance, if they control your listing, they can turn those calls and leads to themselves. Or they could be attempting to get information from you (“Please confirm your social security number”- remember: Google never asked you for this to set up your listing!) so they can apply for loans in your name.

Either way, they’re up to no good! Just hang up on them and block that number!

What should you do about this?

If you’re a business owner, review Google’s help document (above). Inform anyone who answers your phone that Google is more likely a scam, and they should hang up immediately.

If you second-guess yourself, log in to your Google Business account and look. Is anything wrong? Are there any notices you find for which you need to take action? Is any information incorrect or changed?

Become acquainted with social engineering and teach your employees. Social engineering (aka “phishing”) is the most common way people attempt to “hack” you- and it doesn’t even involve a computer. It is all about tricking someone into giving a nefarious actor access to something you don’t want them to access.

If you’re handling marketing or are a web developer, inform your clients about this scam. Point them to Google’s guidelines (or this blog post) so they can be informed customers.