Scams on the Web: How to Navigate?
As in all areas and sectors, the web is not immune to scams and hacking attempts.
These criminals increase their efforts and seem to find new scam ideas every day either to try to take control of your website or your social networks, to seize your passwords and your personal information, it is never ending!
Recently, we shared a blog post about one of these scams that sent a letter about your domain name. Since then, a new scam regarding Google My Business profiles has been gaining popularity, so it is important to be vigilant.
Mapidea: a company to be wary of
This scam is particularly popular since the Google My Business listing has recently undergone some changes.
Indeed, from now on, in order to avoid false listings, Google has implemented a system to verify that the information on the listings is true by calling the manager of the listing in order to confirm the information already present.
Unfortunately, this new feature also brings its share of scams.
The goal of this scam
The business Mapidea wants to take control of your Google My Business listing by extracting your information. The goal is to make believe that your listing is not visible on Google Map, when this is false. Then you will have to pay a fee to retrieve it and have it show up on Google Maps.
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Please note that the Google My Business Listing is always displayed on Google Maps and on the Google result page for free.
The Google My Business listing is present on the Google results page and on Google Maps.
The strategy of this company
You will be contacted by phone by a member of the Mapidea team who claims to be affiliated with Google as a supervisor or technical manager. The team member will inform you of problems with your Google My Business listing and will attempt to obtain your login information in order to include a single administrator of the Google my Business listing.
Then, you will be invited to purchase a package from them for the management of your file. These are expensive and can go to more than $1000.
It is very important to know that no company can declare being affiliated with Google, even when they are a Google partner.
In addition, the management of the Google My Business listing is accessible free of charge by Google.
Finally, when Google actually contacts its customers by phone, it is only to confirm information that is already public that you will be asked to confirm. For example, you will be asked to confirm your business hours or the phone number on your listing.
Recognize a scam before it is too late
Because this is unfortunately not the last scam with a goal of stealing money or your information, here is a short guide to help you easily recognize a scam:
- Using a sense of urgency
- Automated calls
- You are asked for your password
- The quality of their website
- Ask yourself the right questions
- Questionable contacts
Often, when contacted by these scammers, there is a sense of fear and urgency that makes you think you need to act fast. For example, they want to confirm your Google My Business listing before someone else takes it. It is not possible, if your listing already exists, it cannot be stolen. A company that acts honestly will always give you time to think about their offer.
Google does not communicate using automated calls. Even if it’s not 100% certain, beware of automated calls and prefer calls with real humans to whom you can ask questions in real time.
It is not a practice of Google, social media platforms, or many web platforms to call you directly to ask for your passwords.
When a fraudulent company contacts you, check the quality of their website. Often, the latter contains several spelling mistakes, low quality images, bugs, questionable URLs, etc. It is often a bad sign to see these kinds of mistakes.
It’s okay to question what is being mentioned to you and ask yourself a few questions. For example, why does Google need my information if I am already registered there, they already have my password and information.
Moreover, researching these companies allows you to see that several people have reported as being a scam or if they have been caught.
Often, scammers have to create questionable email addresses to contact you, these do not seem associated with the company, and contain several questionable numbers and names. For example, Facebook will not contact you with a yahoo or gmail email address, they are equipped with business addresses. In addition, very long and long distance phone numbers are also suspicious.
Finally, if you are still not sure or convinced, you can contact your web team at BJMédia. Our experts remain on the lookout for these web scam attempts and have the interest of your web platforms at heart, which is why it is important to choose your web agency carefully.
Sources:
https://nordvpn.com/fr/blog/site-frauduleux/
https://www.gevictoire.com/fr/blogue/195/Devriez-vous-faire-affaire-avec-une-entreprise-dIrlande-Pour-la-biere-oui-pour-la-gestion-de-votre-profil-Google-Mon-entreprise-non