Google today (March 22) warned that a fraudulent network has created thousands of fake businesses on Google Maps to collect and sell user data.
Google is suing a Maryland man for creating fake business listings on Google Maps. The lawsuit alleges that Yaniv Asayag and about 20 co-defendants illegally collected data and then sold the personal information of users who contacted the fake businesses.
Google is suing a Maryland man for creating fake business listings on Google Maps. (Illustration photo)
Google's complaint, filed this week in California federal court, said the group "engaged in an organized pattern of fraud" by creating and editing business listings on Google Maps and Google Search.
Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said in a statement that Google does not allow fake business listings on Google Maps and uses a range of tools to protect businesses and users. "Today's lawsuit continues our efforts and sends a clear message that impersonation schemes will not be tolerated," Prado said.
Asayag and his co-defendants created listings for businesses that catered to immediate needs, such as HVAC cleaning services, towing companies, or locksmiths, Google alleges in the complaint. They then “tricked unsuspecting customers” into visiting these fake business pages, which were bolstered by fake reviews.
They collect personal information from customers who contact fake businesses and sell it to marketers at real companies. This strategy is sometimes called “lead generation,” a marketing tactic that can also be legal when the leads are based on real data.
In one prominent example, a judge sentenced Jen Shah, a former star of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” to more than six years in prison in 2023 after police charged her with wire fraud in connection with a telemarketing scheme where she created and sold “lead lists” of consumers to other scammers.
In Google's lawsuit, one fake business listing the company identified was called "ByDennis Cleaner," which was then changed to "MS Locksmith" just a month after it was created. Over the course of about a year, the network edited the listings of nearly 150 businesses more than 1,000 times, Google said.
The lawsuit alleges that scammers sometimes sell users’ personal information to real businesses with a history of predatory behavior, such as overcharging or extortion. The lawsuit also says that “abuse” in the locksmith industry due to lead generation scams is “well documented.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to check the URL of the business you want to contact. The agency suggests searching for the URL as well as the business name along with words like “reviews” or “complaints” to see if anyone has reported the listing.
Currently, no attorney has been named to defend Asayag in public court records.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/google-boc-tran-thu-doan-lua-dao-tren-google-maps-192250322210800528.htm
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