Coconut Creek, Florida – A South Florida small business owner says he fell victim to a Google extortion scam that included fake negative reviews.
Scammers ask for money and removing fake bad reviews is not an easy process.
David Merkatz is one of the victims. He founded the Broward Notary Public out of his home office.
“When I retired, I was looking for a way to make a few dollars to supplement Social Security,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey, if I could start a notary business and be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays, that would really work.'”
And he does. He has 145 great reviews on Google and a small number on Yelp.
“I have all five-star reviews,” Merkatz said. “And if you have bad reviews, they won’t use you.”
Things were going very well until, “all of a sudden, I heard a little beep on my phone and it was Google Messenger,” he said.
“All of a sudden, this guy started saying, ‘I owe you a paid review,’ and I started answering him,” Merkatz said. “I’m like, ‘Paid reviews?’” (I) don’t pay for reviews. He started threatening me. “If you don’t pay, I’ll give you a bad review.” ”
Merkatz said he was told things like, “Members will start posting negative comments if they don’t get paid,” and “I’ve already successfully closed down two businesses.” Now it’s your turn. “
“I stopped because I realized he was just trying to extort money from me. And he didn’t stop,” Merkatz said. “The guy called me and said, ‘I’m on the phone right now, so please don’t track the call.'”
Negative reviews were then posted. It came from Salar Habib, who claimed that the price was too high and he was disappointed with the service.
Mr. Merkatz said he had never done business with anyone by that name. The review is a lie. Both the name and account appear to be false.
“It was like, Okay, what do I do? At one point I even thought about paying him,” he said. “If you have too many bad reviews, Google will suspend your listing. And they even mentioned that.”
Understandably, Merkatz wanted the fake reviews removed immediately.
“There’s no one at Google to talk to,” he says. “Basically, they say, ‘We’re sorry for the inconvenience,’ but you can just flag it or include a reply.”
The fake review was removed after Local 10 News contacted Google.
“I was surprised, surprised,” Merkatz said. “You could talk to someone. It’s an ongoing issue.”
“Do you think Google is doing enough to police it?” Local 10 News investigative reporter Jeff Wineger asked Merkatz.
“They don’t care,” he replied.
In a statement to Local 10 News, a Google spokesperson said: “Our policies clearly state that reviews must be based on actual experience and information. We investigated the matter and removed the content that violated our policies.”
“Through our advanced automated and manual technology, we were able to remove over 170 million reviews that violated our policies,” the spokesperson said. “We are also taking legal action and working with the Federal Trade Commission to find a lasting solution. We encourage users and business owners to report suspicious activity to us. ”
Google has a detailed YouTube video with step-by-step instructions on how to remove fake or fake reviews.
But it won’t happen right away.
Merkatz said he worries this is not the end.
“I blocked him, but he can set up 100 Gmail accounts,” he said. “They have no limits. And he can keep doing it. I’m not the only one who has this problem. I’ve talked to a lot of people in the service industry and they have the same problem. I’m holding it.”
WPLG Local10.com Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.