Awareness Message: Google Maps Review Scam – Stay Alert!
Dear all,
Messages like the ones shown below are part of a scam where people are encouraged to post fake 5-star reviews on Google Maps in exchange for a small payment.
What is happening?
Fake review writing jobs
Using multiple email IDs to post 5-star ratings
Unfair promotion of businesses
Misleading genuine customers
Why this is dangerous:
Violates Google’s review policies
Can lead to a permanent ban of your Google account
May involve legal risks
Fake reviews deceive real users and affect trust
How to stay safe:
Only post honest and personal experiences in your reviews
Never write fake reviews for money or rewards
Report such scams to Google or avoid engaging
“Your review is your voice — make it honest, not hired.”
Thanks @Hashi_sho for your efforts , your honesty and your commitment!
Truly that’s commonly everywhere nowadays those who will invite us to make fake reviews for some kind of treatments through paiements to free dishes and so on…
Nice topic to aware and remind this as scam and against google map’s policies and guidelines.. great job!
I think as soon as it’s available its useful and helpful
. #LG
Thanks @Hashi_sho
For your efforts as @Laurent rightly said now a days almost every member here are getting attack by spammer.
However you took pain to express it as still few local guides may not be aware.
Keep spreading good practices.
Regards
Anil6969
Thank you for sharing this information. Please be advised that I removed some of the tags from your topic as they are not relevant to it. Make sure to add only the tags that best describe what you are sharing. Thanks!
Thank you for your kind response and for reviewing my post. I truly appreciate your effort in maintaining the quality of the community. I will make sure to use only relevant tags moving forward.
Thank you so much @Anil6969
Your kind words mean a lot. Yes, as you rightly said, spam attacks have become very common these days. Still, by sharing our experiences, we can help fellow Local Guides stay alert and safe. Let’s continue supporting each other and building a strong, responsible community together.
“I have already openly shared a scam like this. Since then, many people have learned about it, but it has helped them to be careful. When we share such information in a timely manner, society becomes safer!”
Or in a simpler way:
“I have already openly shared this scam. Therefore, it has helped many people to avoid it. Everyone should be careful in such matters.”
Yes , @TerryPG I always flag and report them and also share that with other LGs from India. So that they can keep an eye out for them … Now those spammers have moved to private messaging like this one… He have messaged more than a dozen LGs I know.
Awareness Message: Google Maps Review Scam – Stay Alert! 
What is happening?
Why this is dangerous:
How to stay safe:
“Your review is your voice — make it honest, not hired.”
