Extortion scams are a serious policy violation, and Google is committed to helping protect businesses from these scams. These scams may involve a sudden increase in 1-star and 2-star reviews on your Google Business Profile, followed by someone demanding money, goods, or services in exchange for removing the negative reviews.
Although our moderation systems catch most suspicious activity, we recommend that all merchants remain vigilant in identifying and reporting potential extortion of their Business Profile. If you find signs of an extortion scam, take immediate action to protect yourself and your business.
Report the extortion scam
Important:
- Do not engage with or pay the malicious individuals. This can encourage further attempts and doesn’t guarantee the removal of reviews.
- Do not try to resolve it yourself by offering money or services.
- Gather all evidence immediately. The sooner you collect proof, the better.
- Report all relevant communication you receive in the form.
If you suspect you’re being targeted by an extortion scam, report it promptly to us. Share as much detail as possible to help us investigate and take proper action.
- Go to the merchant extortion report form.
- Provide all the requested information to the best of your ability, such as:
- Your contact info and relationship with the affected business.
- Full name, address, and link to the affected Business Profile.
- Details on the suspicious negative reviews.
- Details on the malicious third party’s contact and extortion methods.
- Attach screenshots and files that clearly show the communications, demands, and any other evidence related to the extortion scam. Learn more about what evidence to prepare.
- Submit the form.
Understand what evidence to prepare
To strengthen your claim, share as much evidence as possible and make sure to submit the following:
- Screenshots of the extortion attempt:
- Take clear screenshots of all communication from the third party that shows their demands for money or favors to remove reviews. This includes emails, chat messages in WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social media platforms, or any other written demands.
- Make sure the screenshots show the date, time, and the sender's contact information, to the extent possible, like email addresses, phone numbers, and social media profiles.
- Links to the suspicious reviews:
- Share direct links to all reviews you believe are part of the extortion attempt. Learn how to share a link to a customer review.
- Information on the malicious individuals or groups:
- Any names, usernames, email addresses, phone numbers, or social media profiles associated with the individuals or groups making the demands.
- Contextual details:
- The date and time you first noticed the sudden increase in negative reviews.
- The date and time you first received the extortion demand.
- Any other relevant details or history of similar attempts.
Understand what happens after you submit the report
After you submit your report with evidence, our team thoroughly investigates the claim and notifies you about the results of the investigation. Due to privacy and security reasons, we can’t share specific details about the investigation, but we are committed to maintaining the integrity of Business Profiles and reviews.
Tips:
- This reporting channel and the need for evidence of extortion are exclusively for cases where you‘ve been directly subjected to an extortion attempt demanding money or favors in exchange for review removal.
- For reviews that you believe violate our policies for other reasons like being spam or off-topic, learn how to report or fix content.
