Fraud Reviews for Points

[SrRojo]

Hello Local Guides moderator team,

In my local area, I have seen reviews occasionally from a high ranking guide. I originally strove to match his level because of the competition. However, upon looking at his profile, I see that he actually has been posting identical photos to several national chains of stores. His reviews to accompany these photos are often (not always) copy/paste jobs from the other review. I was quite disappointed to see this, as the thrill of knowing someone in my area was so dedicated to the local guides program really excited me. However, he is clearly a fraud.

@JeroenM @JeslynL You are both people I've seen responding to similar issues, so I am naming you in the hopes of having a moderator respond. Feel free to message me for more information.

[Csaba]

Hi @SrRojo, I know what you mean. I have "caught" a LG with rating everything he seriously could have never been to and "writing" reviews simply copy-pasting from Wikipedia (and similar places). 

I am collecting the evidence now to report him as a spammer. It is good that you tagged @JeslynL as someone from the Google Team will contact you for the details. 

[SrRojo]

Thanks @Csaba for the reply. It really is extremely aggravating because I love the local guides program and rep it as a badge of honor. Obviously this person appreciates aspects of the program, but doesn't respect the spirit of it. I hope both of our efforts can help maintain the integrity of it. 

[JeslynL]

Hey @SrRojo, we appreciate that you didn't share info about the Local Guide publicly. I've shot over a private message with details on how to share this info with the team. Check your inbox, and thank you for reporting! 

[JeroenM]

@SrRojo

I share your feelings and noticed you have been contacted by Jy @

[JeroenM]

@SrRojo

I share your feelings and noticed you have been contacted by Jeslyn.

For your information, I am not a moderator, simply a fellow LG trying to help on the forums.

Best wishes,

JeroenM

[SrRojo]

Thanks for the replies fellow LG's. I have passed on the information to the appropriate parties. 

[EdwinOfNorthumbria]

I've just come across someone doing a very similar thing in my local area - virtually identical (and uninformative) reviews concerning a number of train stations plus duplicate photos of the same place (curiously there doesn't seem to be an option of flagging this up, which there really should be). Please advise me on how to report this.

[JeslynL]

Here you go, @EdwinOfNorthumbria: How Do I Report Content on Google Maps?