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How to identify and report fraud on Google Maps

Googler

UPDATE: As of June 11, 2020, we now have a new process in place for reporting abusive activity on Google Maps. You can report entire profiles on Google Maps from your mobile device. Read this post to learn more.

 

Have you ever come across a place on Google Maps that doesn’t really exist? How about a place with incorrect details that look suspicious? These edits violate the Google My Business guidelines and Local Guides guidelines, and they’re considered fraud.

 

People post fraud on Google Maps for the sake of profit-generating scams, which hurt legitimate businesses and make Maps less useful for everyone. You can help fight spam by reporting violations.

 

 

Maps listings with keywords in their address fieldsMaps listings with keywords in their address fields

 

 

.:: How do I identify fraud on Google Maps? Look for the following.

 

  • Businesses that list a P.O. Box, post office or virtual office as an address. A business needs to have a real-world address to be listed on Google Maps. Virtual offices and shared workspaces are acceptable if they’re staffed during typical business hours, but be aware that using these types of places as addresses is a popular fraud technique. P.O. Boxes are OK in countries where they are essential, such as Kenya and the U.A.E.
  • Online-only businesses. Online businesses that don’t meet customers face-to-face are not eligible to be on Maps.
  • Businesses that don’t exist. If a business is on Maps but is not real, it should be reported.
  • Businesses that use employees’ addresses. The scam here is to make it appear that the business has locations in places where it doesn’t actually operate. If you see a business that seems to be in a purely residential area, this might be the reason.
  • Keyword “stuffing.” If you see search terms “stuffed” into place names or address fields, that’s a sign of a fraudulent listing.
  • Fake websites or phone numbers. For example, a fraudulent hotel listing might include a hotel booking site instead of a site for an individual business. If a business’s site seems broken or distributes malware, that’s a sign of a fraudulent listing.
  • Business impersonators: Some people create fake listings for real businesses, such as national chains. If you think a listing might be fraudulent, check the brand’s official site to see its legitimate locations.
  • Reviews that point out abuse. Sometimes, people will notice a fraudulent listing and note it in a review.
  • Profanity. Sometimes, people will deface legitimate listings with edits that include foul language.
  • Illegal businesses: If a business is illegal where it operates, it can’t be on Google Maps.

 

.::How do I report fraud on Google Maps?

 

  1. Find the business on Google Maps
  2. Scroll down and select Suggest an edit
  3. Tap Place is permanently closed or has never existed
  4. Select Spam, fake or offensive as the reason
  5. Tap Submit

Report the listing as spam flowReport the listing as spam flow

 

 

.::Reporting a Local Guide

If you've found a Local Guide contributing content or behaving in a way that seems to violate our policies or Local Guides program rules, you now have the ability to report these profiles directly in the Google Maps app. In order to do so, click on the user name in the list of Reviews/Photos they contributed or the Question/Answer they posted to get to their profile page. Once on their profile page, click on the three dot icon. Choose ‘Report’ from the menu on iOS or ‘Report profile’ on Android. For additional information, read this post.

 

.::Reporting spammed, fake, or duplicate prominent locations to Google Moderators

There are certain prominent places which Local Guides can’t edit in Google Maps, such as cities, towns, rivers, natural formations, and more. If you come across a spammed, fake or duplicate location for which you cannot submit an edit or your edit is automatically rejected, let us know in a comment below. Make sure to tag a Google Moderator and provide the following details: 

 

  • Google Maps URL of the location (Eg: https://goo.gl/maps/qAZfCWDfZzoqchHL9);
  • What’s wrong with the place? Is it spammed, fake, or duplicate?
  • Which is the wrong information? Is it the name, category, or contact information?
  • What should the correct information be? Tell us the original name of the place in English and in the local language (if applicable), the right category (Zoo, Museum, etc.), and the correct contact information (official website, address, phone number, etc.).
2,851 Comments
Former Google Contributor

Thanks @Badruddeen@RaulFelix sending you a private message know to let you know how to report someone. 

Level 8

Hi @AGarner

 

That was quick. Thank you for the prompt response.

 

Cheers

Level 4

Oi, GusMoreira. Recebi tantos emails que não sei se estou no local certo para denunciar um local guide que está enchendo o Google Maps de lixo que só interessa a ela e a seus clientes. Por favor responda de modo pessoal para que eu possa passar mais detalhes. Obrigado. 

Connect Moderator

@RaulFelix

You already received a reply from @AGarner, so please check your mail.

 

I'm merging your post with your previous one

 

Ermes

Level 4

Hey @BellaWi! I want to report a Spammer, please contact me.

Former Google Contributor

@Interosseus, I sent you a private message with more details on how to share this info with the team. Check your inbox! 

New to Connect? Check out Help Desk! Always keep in mind the Local Guides program rules when posting.

Buen día deseo reportar un spammer, que sube muchas fotos a mi local que no corresponden y trato de ir reportandolas pero nunca desaparecen, esta persona sube las mismas fotos a muchos lugares diferentes y ahora tiene 34 mil puntos que realmente no merece, por favor contactenme para darles la informacion. Gracias

Former Google Contributor

Hello @felixfeliciscoffee,

 

I will send you a private message with instructions.

I am not available to respond on the weekend
Level 2

@AGarner I'd like to report a spammer, please! Manually reporting each of these images on my work place's listing is getting tedious 😛

Former Google Contributor

Hi @Kmoor120 sending you a pm now!

Level 10

Hi dear @JeslynL


I want to report a Spammer, please contact me.

Majidmadsdi
Former Google Contributor

@MajidMadadi, as I noted to you before, please feel free to share information with the team via the channel I shared with you over private message. You do not have to let me know each time you want to report a Local Guide who is violating Google Maps' policies and/or Local Guides program rules. Thanks!

New to Connect? Check out Help Desk! Always keep in mind the Local Guides program rules when posting.

Level 10

🙏🌹🌷👍😬😅😟

Majidmadsdi
Level 3

Hi! How do I report a specific profile who has been giving misleading reviews to a number of places? Please help me out! 

 

Thanks! 🙂

Former Google Contributor

Hello @duelraj, I believe  How Do I Report Content on Google Maps? would be useful to you! 

New to Connect? Check out Help Desk! Always keep in mind the Local Guides program rules when posting.

Level 5

<PROFILE REMOVED>

This local guide posts fake photos and copy pastes every comment he made, nothing in his profile is true

Level 10

Hi @DanielBogado please, remove the link, for privacy reasons, and report single fake photos. If you think this is a serial spammer, we can tag a Googler that will contact you privately for further actions: @BruceDM

Level 5

Thanks, I thought I was making a private report, I'll erase the url but it will be great that a googler take some action

Former Google Contributor

Hello @DanielBogado -

 

I took the liberty of removing the profile link from your post. We do not encourage Local Guides to share private information publicly on Connect in order to protect yours and other users' privacy and safety.  Please take a moment to review our community policy and check these useful tips on using this community before posting.

 

I did grab the profile though and I will have it reviewed. We will not be able to share the results of our investigation but will take action if necessary.  In the future you can tag a Google Moderator and we will reach out to you with more instructions on how to report content or a Local Guide.

 

I am not available to respond on the weekend
Level 10

@DanielBogado wrote:

Thanks, I thought I was making a private report, I'll erase the url but it will be great that a googler take some action


You are welcome 😉

Level 6

Hello there,

 

I need help reporting a Local Guide, who is messing with the entries of a Business. He or she is continuous changing the business information, which is bad both for the customers of this business and for the business itself. Furthermore he or she is adding wrong places on top of the Business. Today this local guide added "**####** house" ( category public bathroom) on top of the business. It is getting very annoying to check once a week if the business information are still correct. How can i prevent this in the future? What can i do otherwise? Can you block this user?

Thanks in advance for your help.

@GusMoreira, @JeslynL, @MariaBi, @Atsukot, @BruceDM, @LuisRG, @BellaWi, @HelloJess, @YanniY 

 

Former Google Contributor

 Hi @kinder

 

I'll reach you with further instructions via private message. Thanks.

* Due to the volume of private messages please note that I do not reply to them
Level 7

Maybe the business has not yet claimed their listing properly (verified it via phone call or postcard with code from Google)  so this means public can still edit key info...

Level 6

Hi @MariaBi,

 

thank you.

Level 8

Hi there!

I read the article How Do I Report Content on Google Maps? and would like to bring the attention of a Google Moderator on a user that violates the Review policies.
This users wrote more than 1700 reviews using one or more occurrences of the exact same word, I reported many of them as 'Spam' but it is really time-consuming 🙂

@TraciC Would it be possible to escalate my request? Thank you so much!

Follow me on Instagram and VSCO
Former Google Contributor

Hi @MargotG

 

Happy to help. I'll reach out shortly with further instruction via private message. Thanks!

* Due to the volume of private messages please note that I do not reply to them
Level 10

Great information @Rodrigo_P Thanks to the team for  sharing them with us once again in a more detailed and clearly explained way. 

Level 10

Thanks @Rodrigo_P this is what we usually do, but it's so weird that we have to fight with approval denial, when we find spam.

Recently I've tried to remove a place that was confusing tourists, and causing some real troubles; here you can see just few of the dozens of trials I've made (the first was marking as spam):

 

 

After this I've opened a thread, asking for some Googler support, but this not ended well: https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/Mapping-Your-World/Please-help-me-remove-this-place/m-p/542100...

Anyway, I've found the way to unlock this item, and now, finally, my update is enqueued and have got some chance to be approved.

 

Please, Googlers, give us more trust. 😉

Level 10

@Rodrigo_P,

 

This is very interesting information. When you start to mention listings that have 'stuffing' listings, all of a sudden this shifts the premise of editing the name of the business to something a lot more appropriate to now just reporting it as 'spam' and deleting it off the face of the earth.

 

For example, many of these so-called spam listings have additional keywords that are trying to include search terms into their name:

These businesses and places are very real, and when a place is marked as Spam, the listing disappears. It should just be as simple as being able to just edit it to something a lot more appropriate. In any case, let's assume that I now start to mark these places as spam for businesses that violate the Google My Business representation guidelines.

 

  • Since places I have marked as spam disappear and end up as a blank object soon enough, what happens to the information?
  • Most of the time it's actually the Google My Business claimants who violate these guidelines by adding all these unnecessary things to their name, address or anything. So once these are marked as spam, does that advise the GMB owner that their listing has been suspended due to quality issues?

I would rather be able to just edit the questionable fields, or escalate them for higher intervention. They still exist, clear and in plain sight, but they just need a nudge in the right direction. Because marking them all as spam doesn't really help us in any way.

Level 9

Thanks for sharing @Rodrigo_P 🙂

Thank you very much @Rodrigo_P for showing us how to identify and report spam. You are an expert on this topic 😁.

It has been a nice surprice to find this great post from you.

Good Afternoon from the South of Spain 😀😀.

 

 

Level 8

Hi @Rodrigo_P,

 

Thank you very much for sharing this guideline to us.

 

I have find the new "Spam" option for a while, but keep wonder when it should be used.  This post answered lots of my doubts.

 

<edit Inconsistency part removed.  My mistake.> 

 

 

If I remember correctly, before this new Spam option is available, we will use "Never existed" as one way to report Spam.

 

So as we have the "Spam" option now, how to determine if I should use "Never existed" or "Spam"?

 

I want to further ask with one example:

https://goo.gl/maps/e62UKKp58GC2

 

This POI is having this as Address: Main St, Weber City, VA 24290, United States

But the Place Marker is shown at: 22.248106, 114.152256  (in Hong Kong, not in United States)

No website, No phone number given.

 

Should I mark it closed using "Never existed" as the reason?  Or this is a Spam?  

Level 10

Hello @Rodrigo_P
Thank you for your great topic, It's very useful and necessary.
Me and my dear friend @Amiran fight spam everyday together but still lots of spams exist.
I need more trust from Google to contribute more and more, because I have lots of pending and also not applied and it's not good for a large scale to care my country's map.

Level 8

Hi @Rodrigo_P,

 

I have one more question.  Please ignore if this is considered offtopic.

 

When a valid business is hijacked - website, phone number, address, Name, etc.

 

Do we consider this "hijacked" POI a Spam?  When we LGs discovered a "hijacked" POI, should we try to edit it to correct the informaiton, or we should just Report it?  What will be the correct report channel in this case?

 

Thank you very much!

 

Level 10

Bonjour à tous guides locaux,

Merci @Rodrigo_P  pour ces informations sur les spams. C'est toujours intéressant d'avoir des conseils.

Je rejoins @LucioV, lorsque l'on signal des spams ou des photos  ayant  aucun rapport avec le lieu. Il arrive  assez fréquemment  que la demande  se fasse  attendre  voire rejetée. C'est vrai  que c'est frustrant. On le sait, on le voit  et pourtant ce n'est pas approuvé. 

 

 

Level 10

Hello, @Rodrigo_P

Thank you very much for sharing.

I also follow this method.

Follow me here.....
Level 8

Hi @Rodrigo_P,

 

Our Taiwan Local Guides reminded me to report a Translation issue:

 

When using Android Maps in Chinese - Traditional, the option "Spam" is translated as "垃圾郵件"。It is an incorrect usage.  Which 垃圾 is "Rubbish" and 郵件 is "email".

 

When using Desktop Maps in Chinese - Traditional, the option "Spam" is translated as "垃圾內容"。It is a correct usage.  Which 內容 is "Content".

 

Thank you very much!  

 

Traditional Chinese of "Spam" is wrongTraditional Chinese of "Spam" is wrong

Level 10

This is most important information @Rodrigo_P thank you for sharing with us.

Level 6
  • Businesses that use employees’ addresses. The scam here is to make it appear that the business has locations in places where it doesn’t actually operate. If you see a business that seems to be in a purely residential area, this might be the reason.

Post is helpful but in my experience I typically get a "NOT APPLIED" when reporting businesses that, according to your list, should be labeled as spam. The only time I've had any success whatsoever was when I brought it here, to the forum, and a moderator happened to to see it.

 

 

Level 10

Dear @Rodrigo_P and Google,

 

I need to ask a few questions.

 

In regards to the examples in your screenshot, if the addresses are very wrong and filled with "stuffing", isn't it just easy enough to just edit the address, like below?

 

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 13.00.02.png

 

Then maybe if the edits are not applied, then we can either report here to change them with our "highly-trusted" mappers, escalate it to the Google My Business team to have the business listing suspended and the owner notified, or just send in-app feedback instead? I remember this one time where I tried to add this place, and then the address I entered malfunctioned and entered an adjacent address 8 times instead. It needs to be simple enough to just be reviewed and dealt with sufficiently if consultation with the owner is applicable, rather than being treated as spam (unless it actually doesn't exist).

 

In regards to what constitutes as spam:

For the following points, these only need to be marked as 'Doesn't exist'. Unless they exist multiple times, then maybe they should be reported.

  • Businesses that list a P.O. Box, post office or virtual office as an address.
  • Online-only businesses.
  • Businesses that don’t exist.
  • Businesses that use employees’ addresses.

For the following points, these only need a simple edit. A fake website or phone number may incorrectly be edited unto an actual listing's so users must be careful in determining whether it is spam or not. If it is clearly spam, simply report.

 

  • Keyword “stuffing.”
  • Fake websites or phone numbers.

For the following points, these ones in particular I would recommend marking as spam.

  • Business impersonators.
  • Reviews that point out abuse.
  • Illegal businesses.

But my concern is only for the point below. As I said, marking listings as spam removes them from the maps. Does Google not have a hierarchy or chronology of edits to be able to revert defaced listings back to a certain state in a previous day or information? Every single listing has its own data ID, and every individual ID should be able to have so-called save-states or reference points to information back in time.

  • Profanity. Sometimes, people will deface legitimate listings with edits that include foul language or intention.

 

Marking everything as spam should not be the primary reason why they need to be reported. I cannot support what you've written regardless of the majority of my edits being 'not applied', and why this had to be featured beats me. If they happen not to be correctable upon first glance I just post here for advice or escalation, or send feedback.

 

I hope you understand.

Level 10

Furthermore, provided I do not receive any further information or responses to my questions, this post now denotes and presumes that if an edit of mine to try and correct a business name that is questionable (doesn't follow the guidelines) and is manually not applied (meaning it has gone through human intervention) I will start marking them all as spam. It looks like all spam reports do go into the manual review process, and I can only hope that the team knows what they are doing or looking at when they are presented with the suggestion.

 

I still do not agree with marking everything as spam though, but maybe if moderators and certain leads actually had more more in correcting and liaising with Google My Business owners, maybe this wouldn't have been an option.

Googler

Thank you for your feedback and inputs @Briggs , will give a reply to your questions tomorrow

 

Thanks again

Level 8

Hi @Briggs,

 

I have some ideas:

 

  1. What is the main target of Spam flight?  (Here, different people will have different focus and consider what is more important, etc.)
    1. Remove Existing Spam information
    2. Identify Spammers and stop them from further Spamming
    3. Prevent future Spaming edits from publishing
  2. Distinguish between Spam edits,  Legit edits and Naturally outdated data
    1. If we just edit the POI, the AI (the system) cannot determine if the data is Outdated, Legit edits (phone number with country code no without country code?) or Spam edits.  Thus it is important we label it as Spam, so that AI can learn what is Spam (AI nowaday is all about learning by example, feedback loops, etc.)
    2. Thus in this regard, we should tell the AI something is a Spam
  3. Now we have this clear Spam option.  It will be time to better differentiate when to use Permanently Closed (this should be clear enough), Not Exist/Never Existed and Spam.  (Of course, this article explained when to use Spam.  So I want further explaination to compare the use of Permanently Closed Not/Never Existed and Spam)
    1. Desktop Maps use "Never existed".  It is very strong hinted the POI is entirely not real.  (I guess that is why it is used to report Spam when the new "Spam" option is not existed.).  But practically, no one can be sure  a POI is never existed.  If I am 18 years old, I likely will not know if that POI existed 16 years ago or not.  How long is "Never"?  If I just moved here for 3 months, and never seem this POI, is it Never for Maps?
    2. Android Maps use "Doesn't exist".  For this wordings, my understanding is:  Now I am at the correct physical locatin.  And the POI is not here.  It has a chance of "Permanently Closed" and replaced by a new POI (but I dont know for sure.).  So as long as I am not sure for a better options, and it simply not here during my visits, then I can use this option.
    3. (Thus Desktop and Android Maps should use the same wordings to avoid different interpretations like this)
  4. I will avoid discussing approval results in this thread.  There is a new Option for edits - with a clear and specific purpose.  Approval results is entirely another domain.  And we should keep discussions in focus.

 

Level 10

Yeah! let's fight spam. 

Thank you so much for this information

Connect Moderator

Thanks for sharing this useful information @Rodrigo_P 

About me | Guiding Star 2020 | Guiding Star 2020 |  | Follow me on Instagram & Follow me on Maps |   | Happy to Help


Please use '@' before the name to tag me.



Connect Moderator

@Rodrigo_P these are so useful tips... but After reporting spam content or contribution we got nothing good response. It seems spamming is a good contribution and our reporting is illegal. But still now I continue my reporting. 

Otherwise locally we have taken a decision for  bolt out spammer from Maps.

Happy Guiding!!! 

Level 9

Very nice Information will follow it.

Level 9

Hi @Rodrigo_P

 

I recently found, Hundreds of spam places added by a company with same phone number. 

 

Examples: 

  1. https://goo.gl/maps/QuDUgfKJTt
  2. https://goo.gl/maps/2zLa6Mh7MWT2

  3. https://goo.gl/maps/6FQmwoBMbov

  4. https://goo.gl/maps/3aR5soMVxBS2

 

I have successfully deleted around a hundred such spam listings. But a lot of listings are still there. 

 

Is there any way to remove all these from Google's side ? Because all the listings contains the same phone number, Can the local guide who added these places be banned ?

 

Regards,

Melbin Mathew

Hi,  @Rodrigo_P 

Thank you for the post. It's kind of a refresher for me. 🙂

I have been reporting and shall keep doing the same. 

 

Cheers!