Google Business Card Scammers - Learn About the 6 Most Common Google Business Card Scams
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 9:57 am
To avoid a situation where you may be scammed, check out a handful of information on how scammers who sharpen their teeth on owners of Google business cards operate. Learn 6 ways to scam "on a business card".
For many years, Google has been meeting the expectations of entrepreneurs and to make it easier for them to reach potential customers, it has created a tool that makes it easier for them to do so - Google business cards, which are intended for potential customers looking for a suitable company in a specific industry.
It is worth emphasizing right from the start that the Google business card is a 100% free tool, and therefore all activities performed on it are free of charge. Therefore, if you receive disturbing information or someone calls you and says that the business card will disappear from the search results if you do not pay, you become a potential victim of a fraudster.
Remember! Always verify any phone calls or emails that you think are suspicious! How to do it? If you work with an agency that manages your Google listing profile, contact the advisor who will help you verify the situation. Agency employees are specialists in online marketing and cases such as fraud attempts or fraudsters are commonplace for them. However, if you are dealing with the listing profile yourself, contact a Google Support employee. Opportunity makes a thief, and haste is the worst advisor, so always check suspicious actions with a reliable source.
You can also join our Facebook group Top 1 in Maps and ask the community to help you verify the email or phone call you received.
Increase your visibility in local search results
Order a free quote!
Your company email *
Phone number
Page address
Content of the inquiry
* I consent to KS Sp. z o. o. (NIP: 6852338589) sending cooperation proposals to the email address I provided and to using it for email communication for marketing purposes. I also consent to being contacted by phone in order to process my offer application.
(read more)
Scams that target Google Maps users are, contrary to appearances, very common. Business card scammers are very creative in coming up with new ways to extort money. This tool offers huge possibilities, and as a result, there are a lot of ways to try to get money from business card owners in a dishonest way.
What is worth noting here is that Google sometimes contacts the owners of the listing, but only to verify whether the company actually exists in a given location. Contact with Google is most often done by zalo database phone or electronically, via official email. If you have any doubts whether you are talking to a Google employee, you can check it here .
business card
1. The "We Represent Google" Method
Have you ever received a phone call from someone who started the message with the words: "We are a company that represents Google"? And then the conversation continues with a request to pay for some usually trivial reason? Yes? Then they tried the "representative" method on you. This is a scam that is very commonly used. It comes in two versions: a phone call and an email message with the google.com domain. Unfortunately, at this point, even this domain does not give us 100% certainty that this is a Google employee. Why is an address with this ending unreliable? This is because scammers are getting smarter and know perfectly well how to impersonate certain companies. This type of activity is called email spoofing and involves impersonating other companies.
How to verify this?
Verifying this type of fraud is very simple. You can do it in two ways:
If you work with an agency, be sure to notify them about such an incident so that the matter can be quickly verified.
If you manage your business card profile yourself, be sure to report this issue to Google Support.
Write in our group and ask the community — Top 1 in Maps.
a lady in a red sweater is talking on the phone
2. Google listing display fee
What has already been mentioned in this article is the fact that such a tool as a Google business card is free! Therefore, no fees are charged for creating a business card profile . It is worth emphasizing this here, because many entrepreneurs, because they do not have time to verify this information, fall into the trap that fraudsters skillfully set for them.
Similar to the previous point, the fraud method is carried out over the phone, during which the fraudster will manipulate the conversation in such a way as to persuade the entrepreneur to pay, usually not a very high invoice for displaying the business card. The amount will fluctuate within the range of several hundred zlotys, not exceeding a thousand. Unfortunately, this dishonest procedure can be encountered in every industry, especially on the local market, i.e. in the area in which the business card specializes.
It is also worth noting that the payment deadline will usually be very short. An example of a message you might receive could be the following: "We are representatives of Google, you certainly know that we care about our customers and that business card profiles are displayed in search results. You have just created a business card, remember that you must pay a fee of PLN 350 by December 4th for your profile to continue to be displayed."
online payment
3. Blackmail: "Pay for your Google listing or it will be deleted!"
Another very popular method used by fraudsters is blackmail – demanding a fee in exchange for displaying the business card in search engine results. This method is most often associated with the alleged expiration of the business card subscription, which according to this method should be immediately extended by making a payment, usually with a short payment deadline. This is a method that will assume extending the validity of the business card. In this case, business card scammers scare the owner of the profile that if they do not make the payment within the specified time, the business card will be deleted and will not appear in search results.
This is of course not true! Google has never charged and does not charge for displaying a profile; the only paid form is Google Ads, but you configure these yourself or outsource them to an external agency. Your business card will not be displayed in the Google search engine unless you delete it yourself. What's more, the business card will disappear (stop displaying) when it is suspended by Google for violating generally accepted rules, about which you will be informed by e-mail by Google when the profile is suspended. Therefore, the company's business card cannot be deleted by people who do not have access to it.
For many years, Google has been meeting the expectations of entrepreneurs and to make it easier for them to reach potential customers, it has created a tool that makes it easier for them to do so - Google business cards, which are intended for potential customers looking for a suitable company in a specific industry.
It is worth emphasizing right from the start that the Google business card is a 100% free tool, and therefore all activities performed on it are free of charge. Therefore, if you receive disturbing information or someone calls you and says that the business card will disappear from the search results if you do not pay, you become a potential victim of a fraudster.
Remember! Always verify any phone calls or emails that you think are suspicious! How to do it? If you work with an agency that manages your Google listing profile, contact the advisor who will help you verify the situation. Agency employees are specialists in online marketing and cases such as fraud attempts or fraudsters are commonplace for them. However, if you are dealing with the listing profile yourself, contact a Google Support employee. Opportunity makes a thief, and haste is the worst advisor, so always check suspicious actions with a reliable source.
You can also join our Facebook group Top 1 in Maps and ask the community to help you verify the email or phone call you received.
Increase your visibility in local search results
Order a free quote!
Your company email *
Phone number
Page address
Content of the inquiry
* I consent to KS Sp. z o. o. (NIP: 6852338589) sending cooperation proposals to the email address I provided and to using it for email communication for marketing purposes. I also consent to being contacted by phone in order to process my offer application.
(read more)
Scams that target Google Maps users are, contrary to appearances, very common. Business card scammers are very creative in coming up with new ways to extort money. This tool offers huge possibilities, and as a result, there are a lot of ways to try to get money from business card owners in a dishonest way.
What is worth noting here is that Google sometimes contacts the owners of the listing, but only to verify whether the company actually exists in a given location. Contact with Google is most often done by zalo database phone or electronically, via official email. If you have any doubts whether you are talking to a Google employee, you can check it here .
business card
1. The "We Represent Google" Method
Have you ever received a phone call from someone who started the message with the words: "We are a company that represents Google"? And then the conversation continues with a request to pay for some usually trivial reason? Yes? Then they tried the "representative" method on you. This is a scam that is very commonly used. It comes in two versions: a phone call and an email message with the google.com domain. Unfortunately, at this point, even this domain does not give us 100% certainty that this is a Google employee. Why is an address with this ending unreliable? This is because scammers are getting smarter and know perfectly well how to impersonate certain companies. This type of activity is called email spoofing and involves impersonating other companies.
How to verify this?
Verifying this type of fraud is very simple. You can do it in two ways:
If you work with an agency, be sure to notify them about such an incident so that the matter can be quickly verified.
If you manage your business card profile yourself, be sure to report this issue to Google Support.
Write in our group and ask the community — Top 1 in Maps.
a lady in a red sweater is talking on the phone
2. Google listing display fee
What has already been mentioned in this article is the fact that such a tool as a Google business card is free! Therefore, no fees are charged for creating a business card profile . It is worth emphasizing this here, because many entrepreneurs, because they do not have time to verify this information, fall into the trap that fraudsters skillfully set for them.
Similar to the previous point, the fraud method is carried out over the phone, during which the fraudster will manipulate the conversation in such a way as to persuade the entrepreneur to pay, usually not a very high invoice for displaying the business card. The amount will fluctuate within the range of several hundred zlotys, not exceeding a thousand. Unfortunately, this dishonest procedure can be encountered in every industry, especially on the local market, i.e. in the area in which the business card specializes.
It is also worth noting that the payment deadline will usually be very short. An example of a message you might receive could be the following: "We are representatives of Google, you certainly know that we care about our customers and that business card profiles are displayed in search results. You have just created a business card, remember that you must pay a fee of PLN 350 by December 4th for your profile to continue to be displayed."
online payment
3. Blackmail: "Pay for your Google listing or it will be deleted!"
Another very popular method used by fraudsters is blackmail – demanding a fee in exchange for displaying the business card in search engine results. This method is most often associated with the alleged expiration of the business card subscription, which according to this method should be immediately extended by making a payment, usually with a short payment deadline. This is a method that will assume extending the validity of the business card. In this case, business card scammers scare the owner of the profile that if they do not make the payment within the specified time, the business card will be deleted and will not appear in search results.
This is of course not true! Google has never charged and does not charge for displaying a profile; the only paid form is Google Ads, but you configure these yourself or outsource them to an external agency. Your business card will not be displayed in the Google search engine unless you delete it yourself. What's more, the business card will disappear (stop displaying) when it is suspended by Google for violating generally accepted rules, about which you will be informed by e-mail by Google when the profile is suspended. Therefore, the company's business card cannot be deleted by people who do not have access to it.