We work really hard for our Google reviews. We maintain relationships with all of our clients to make sure they are happy with our services. Last week i was messaged on Whats App and via our Google page asking if I wanted some 5 Star reviews by a person called Satyam Singh, probably a fake name.
I politely told him I dont need any reviews o any other marketing support.
After a few minutes he wrote and offered to take down any bad reviews for $500.
We are blessed to only have 5 Star reviews, so I was surprised that he thought we had bad reviews.
I looked at our Google MyBusiness Account and suddenly we have 6 bad reviews, all posted from accounts overseas, all within minutes of one another.
When I confronted him about it he said he didnt post them but can remove them for $500.
As a small business still recovering from Covid and now being affected by the economy in Australia, we work really hard. this kind of behaviour is extortion.
ive forwarded all of the information to google in the hopes it will be removed, and reported his Whatsapp number.
What a disgusting way to try to earn money.
All of the fake reviewers have left 5 Star Reviews, for businesses in the UK, I sincerely hope that they didnt cave to this parasite and pay him extortion money.
15 June 2023: UPDATE
Google have taken the fake reviews down, all except one. And now another parasite (probably the same person) has admitted to writing Negative Google reviews in order to get paid to take them down. Here's his Whatsapp number and screenshot of him admitting to writing negative reviews.
