Scammers give CA restaurants 1-star Google reviews — and won’t stop until they’re paid
Scammers are writing fake 1-star reviews for some San Francisco, California, restaurants and then demanding money in return for not leaving more negative reviews, according to multiple restaurant owners.
Kim Alter, chef and owner of Nightbird, tweeted a screenshot of an email on July 5 and tagged other restaurants including Acquerello, 3rd Cousin and Sons & Daughters.
Her restaurant got 10 negative reviews that day, SFGATE reported.
The scammer said they left “negative feedback” about their restaurant and will not stop until the business sends a $75 Google Play gift card.
“We sincerely apologize for our actions, and would not want to harm your business but we have no other choice,” the email read, according to the screenshot posted on Twitter.
Other San Francisco restaurants like Octavia and Firefly Restaurant commented on the tweet saying they had also gotten the same email.
“Friends from all over the country were reaching out to me, including bar and dealership [owners]” Alter told SFGATE. “Some people said this happened to them weeks ago.”
Alter reported the reviews to Google, and they were removed the next day, according to the outlet.
Anyone can leave a Google starred review without including a comment.
But Google reviews “must be based on real experiences, and when we find policy violations, we take swift action ranging from content removal to account suspension and even litigation,” a Google spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.
Google is currently investigating the fake reviews and is removing those that violate its policies, the spokesperson said.
“We use a combination of human operators and industry-leading technology to closely monitor 24/7 for fraudulent content, and we encourage users and business owners to flag suspicious activity to us, which helps us keep the information on Maps accurate and reliable,” the spokesperson said.
Lucho’s, a Mexican-American restaurant, also got a slew of 1-star reviews on Google, KPIX-TV reported.
“If you go from a 4.8 to a 4.0 rating, people don’t read why,” Kelly Barbieri, who owns the restaurant with her husband, told the outlet. “They just assume something’s wrong with the restaurant, and they may not come visit you. It can really just destroy your restaurant.”
Google removed all 11 reviews a few days after the couple made a report, the outlet reported.
San Francisco restaurants weren’t the only businesses hit with the scam.
Several Chicago restaurants also saw 1-star reviews pop up, followed by an email asking for a $75 Google Play gift card, Eater Chicago reported.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Scammers give CA restaurants 1-star Google reviews — and won’t stop until they’re paid."
