Google sues alleged scammer over fake business and review scheme

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The defendants allegedly came to verification calls with props.

Makena Kellya reporter who covers the politics and power influencing the tech industry. Before joining The Verge in 2018, she covered Congress and breaking news.Google is suing an alleged scammer for running an elaborate scheme to flood its search product with fake businesses and reviews., Google accuses the defendant, Ethan Hu, of abusing the company’s products “to create fake online listings for businesses that do not exist, and to bolster them with fake reviews from people who do not exist.

Over the last two years, Google says the defendants created over 350 fake business profiles that received at least 14,000 fake reviews. While Google can automatically create listings for businesses, business owners can also make them themselves by either requesting a verification postcard be sent to their address or by proving their legitimacy on either a voice or video call with a Google employee.

In its complaint, Google accuses the defendants of posing as fake business owners on these calls “armed with an elaborate set of props which they use to pass off their fake listings as real small businesses.”

 

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