If you notice a sudden flood of 1-star or 2-star reviews on your Google Business Profile followed by someone demanding money to remove them, you're likely being targeted by an extortion scam.

Here's exactly what you need to do to protect your business.

Recognize the Warning Signs

An extortion scam typically looks like this:

  • A sudden spike in negative (1-star or 2-star) reviews on your Business Profile

  • Someone contacts you demanding payment, goods, or services in exchange for removing those reviews

  • The person may reach out through email, text, WhatsApp, Telegram, or other messaging platforms

Take Immediate Action

Step 1: Do NOT Engage or Pay

This is critical: Do not respond to the scammer's demands or pay them anything. Paying encourages them to continue targeting you and other businesses, and it does not guarantee the reviews will be removed.

Step 2: Gather Evidence Right Away

The sooner you collect proof, the stronger your case will be. You'll need:

Screenshots of all communications showing:

  • The extortion demands (emails, text messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, social media messages)

  • Date and time stamps

  • The sender's contact information (email addresses, phone numbers, usernames, social media profiles)

Links to the suspicious reviews:

To get the direct link to each review:

  1. Go to Google Maps

  2. Search for your business's name and city

  3. Select Reviews

  4. Next to the review you want to share, select More (three dots) and then Share review

  5. In the "Share" pop-up window, select Send a link

  6. Under "Link to share," you can find the review link

  7. Select COPY LINK to copy it (you'll see "COPIED TO CLIPBOARD" appear to confirm)

  8. Paste this link into a document to include in your report

  9. Repeat for each suspicious review

Information about the scammer:

  • Any names, usernames, email addresses, or phone numbers

  • Social media profiles or accounts they're using

  • Any other identifying information

Step 3: Report to Google Immediately

  1. Go to the Merchant Extortion Report Form

  2. Fill out the form completely with:

    • Your contact information and relationship to the business

    • Your business name, address, and Business Profile link

    • Details about the suspicious negative reviews

    • Information about the person or group making demands

    • How they contacted you and what they're demanding

  3. Attach all your evidence:

    • Upload screenshots of communications

    • Include the review links you copied

    • Provide any other relevant documentation

  4. Submit the form

What Happens Next

After you submit your report, Google's team will thoroughly investigate your claim. You'll be notified about the results, though Google cannot share specific investigation details for privacy and security reasons.

Important Reminders

  • Act fast - The sooner you report with evidence, the better

  • Keep all evidence - Don't delete any communications from the scammer

  • Don't try to resolve it yourself - Let Google handle the investigation

  • This form is specifically for extortion cases - If you have reviews that violate Google's policies for other reasons (spam, off-topic, etc.), use the standard review reporting process instead

Need More Help?

If you believe reviews violate Google's policies for reasons other than extortion, you can learn more about reporting inappropriate reviews through Google's standard review management tools.

Remember: Google is committed to protecting businesses from these scams. While their systems catch most suspicious activity, your vigilance and prompt reporting are essential to stopping these criminals.