Did you consider there were more than 56 million US residents were harmed by the scams that were made in 2020, which is an increase by 30% from the year prior? This pertains to all scam calls, and Google is only one percent. However, the 30% increase is expected to increase between 2020 and 2021 and because of Google being such a major component of your marketing plan it’s crucial to be able to discern the genuine from the fake.
Google-phone-scam
Many thousands of Google My Business users have received calls from suspicious individuals or companies claiming to be working “with” or “for” Google trying to market services or solicit payments for benefits that Google gives without charge. In this article, we’ll to:
Debunking the claims of the latest Google My Business call scams.
Help you identify legitimate listing calls.
We will direct you to the appropriate Google My Business support resources.
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How to Call the Real Google
We’ve got a fuller guide on the various ways to reach Google for your company however if you’re simply looking for a phone number to dial, you can use the following number:
Operating hours: Monday through Friday 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Remember that you might have to wait a few minutes before you can get an answer. While Google is a pro at handling the ad-hoc amount of requests for contact they receive each day hundreds of business owners as you are want to speak to someone live.
What Are Real Google My Business Listing Calls?
Before we get into the latest Google My Business calling fraud Let’s look at the plethora of scenarios where Google will give you a phone call.
1. Business Listing Phone Verification
Verifying your business’s presence with Google isn’t easy sometimes however, it’s essential in order to improve your page to be ranked top in local results. It all depends on the nature of the business it could or might not be eligible for Google’s phone verification procedure. In the event that it is, then this is one of the primary reasons Google will contact your company directly. The verification call will only be made with your permission and you’ll be aware of when you can anticipate it. During the verification process, Google will not request any of your personal or business information. Instead, they’ll give you an individual code to complete the verification prompt that appears on your screen.
2. Non-Sales Tasks
Another reason Google could call your company directly is for fact-checking for users of search engines. These calls are only made for non-sales functions for example, checking the business hours or reservations availability. It’s important to remember that these calls are directed to businesses with the public number. Therefore, if your GMB does not have a telephone number on the list, you may immediately flag Google tasks-related calls as a fraud and call back promptly.
3. Customer Service & Account Support
The final reason Google will give your company a phone call is due to an account or customer service support-related issue. The majority of these calls are directed to an account on Google My Business, Google Ads as well as a Google Play account that you have recently filed an error ticket or report to. In these calls, you’ll speak directly with an official Google operator who will clearly identify themselves as such prior to proceeding for authorization for verification purposes. They won’t ask for details about payment or provide any type of performance guarantee for business listings or Google Ads accounts.
It’s important to know that Google makes an amalgamation of automated calls and calls that are made manually by an operator. Therefore, make sure to give the call several exchanges prior to disconnecting.
What Is the Google My Business Call Scam?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous individuals as well as “businesses” out there that attempt to swindle Google My Business listing owners with phony phone calls. Below, we’ve listed the most frequent Google My Business call scam to watch out for.
“Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Google.”
If you’ve received a calls that begin with this line of opening or an equivalent variation, there’s a likely that you’ve been a victim of an Google My Business scam. The scam is a result of shady third-party firms These calls are designed to persuade Google My Business listing owners to purchase services that are available for free or do not exist.
In the case of claiming to be for the benefit of or through Google These scam calls are made to gain the trust of those they’ve targeted, by making Google’s name known. Once they’ve gotten their foot on the ground the majority of them will give a boost to your ranking on search engines (which you can accomplish yourself) or a range of optimization services at an amount.
The truth is that a lot of the services these firms are attempting to earn money from are already provided by Google Google My Business listings owners through Google at no cost.
Threatening to Remove Your Listing
Another scam that they often employ is threatening to take down your business’s profile on Google Search and Map results in the event that you do not pay renewing the fee (which isn’t there).
How to Identify Fake Google Calls
There are a myriad of various variations of Google calls and scams, you don’t know which strategies will be used each time someone is targeted. In this article, we’ve listed a few rules that will help you spot the scammers.
1. Google Employee Verification
One of the most effective ways to spot the presence of a Google My Business scam call is to ask the person calling to confirm their identity. Anyone who is that calls on behalf of Google would be willing to send you confirmation emails from the @google.com account. If they attempt to evade the question, or provide other type of verification, like a fake ID number, it is likely to be fraudulent.
2. Google Never Asks for Personal Information
Another sign to tell if you’re dealing with fraudsters is when they demand details about your personal information, such as an account password or verification code or financial details. Always looking to safeguard the privacy of their users, Google will never ask for this information, regardless of the reason for soliciting it for. If you receive a request for this or any other information It’s a scam.
3. Google Will Not Attempt to Sell Services
As we mentioned earlier in this post, Google will never call you with the intention of selling services like control of your account or search engine optimization or even the removal of negative reviews. Since Google doesn’t have any contract with third-party company, you can immediately block any caller who attempts to offer you something as fraudulent.
What to Do if You Receive a Scam Call
You can put a stop to scam calls or do more to assist Google and other institutions stop these shady practices.
If the automated message instructs that you press a certain key to remove yourself from the list of callers it could result in more calls. The best option is to hang up or allow the caller time to gather information and then make a report (see below for more details).).
Send the message to Google.
Google recognizes current fraud in its services, specifically for Google reviews as well as the calls we’re discussing here. Google has its own complaint process accessible here. When you are there, make certain to mention:
Be Aware of Google Scam Calls
In a perfect world, only calls you’d get from the Google My Business listing would be genuine customers who express their desire. Unfortunately, that’s not the situation that we live in. Use these guidelines and steps to protect your company from fraud.
