Protect Your Google My Business Listing From This Scam

I’m sure you’ve received a call like this, “Hello, please don’t hang up. We are trying to verify your Google My Business listing. Please press 1 now to verify your Google Listing…”

Or, “Your Google My Business listing is not verified with us. Press 1 now to verify your business listing with Google.”

Next time you receive one of these calls, notice that the caller does not overtly claim to be Google, but they sure are trying to make you think they are Google representatives. In most cases, these are solicitation calls. The person on the other end of the call is trying to get you to sign up for some type of management subscription. Other times, the caller is more deceitful and is trying to get control of your listing. 

Either way, you can protect yourself with a few helpful tips.

Tip 1: Hang up

According to Google, they will not make unsolicited sales calls. So, unless you have an open help ticket. Google isn’t calling. If you do have an open ticket, ask the caller for the ticket number. 

Tip 2: Hang up - And double check your Google My Business Listing

Go to your Google My Business dashboard, https://business.google.com/locations and look at your status. If it says Verified, you are all good. Now is also a great time to double check your profile. 

Add as much information as possible (the more, the better) include a business profile picture, the area your business will be serving, hours of operation, attributes (e.g., "wheelchair accessible," "free wifi"), the day and year you opened, phone number, and website. Check out our CPR for GMB! For more information about optimizing your listing.

Tip 3: Verify a few things if you really don’t want to hang up.

So, there are a couple of reasons Google may call you. 1) if you contacted them first. 2) They may call about development, customer service, support for ads, google play or other accounts. 

According to Google’s help article, Protecting Against Fraudulent Calls, Google will never ask you for payment information over the phone or guarantee you favorable placement in our products. You may receive automated calls in these circumstances: 

• Automated calls come from a set of designated numbers. At the start of the call, you'll hear that the call is from Google and the reason for the call. For example, you might hear something like:

Hi! I'm calling from Google Maps. Given the current health situation, I just want to update your hours. I'm an automated service, so this call is recorded to improve Google services. Could you please tell me your hours for the week?

Hi! I'm helping people find restaurants that are open. I'm an automated service provided by Google, and this call is recorded to improve Google services. Are you currently open for in-person dining?

• You will not be asked to sign up for a service, make a payment, or give sensitive personal information.

• These calls are only enabled for businesses that offer public phone numbers for the purpose of receiving calls from the general public. If businesses don’t want to accept these calls, they can opt-out by simply saying so on the call.

In these situations, you can stay on the phone because Google is legitimately contacting you.

If you are ever in doubt, hang up and call your web developer, social media team, or call Web Education Services, (727) 222-6984. We would be more than happy to help you.

Check out our blog for more information and more helpful tips.