Google has unveiled new functionality in Google Maps that allows businesses to disclose attempted extortion from review bombing attacks, reports The Hacker News.
"Bad actors try to circumvent our moderation systems and flood a business's profile with fake one-star reviews. Following this initial attack, the scammers directly contact the business owner, often through third-party messaging apps, to demand payment," said Google Vice President of Trust & Safety Laurie Richardson.
Other scams users should be vigilant of include those that involve online job postings, artificial intelligence service spoofing, illicit VPN apps and extensions, fraud recovery, and holiday-themed lures, according to Google. Such a development comes as Facebook's parent company Meta was reported by Reuters to have a lucrative business from ad marketing scams, with scam ads contributing to up to 10.1% of overall revenue, amounting to almost $16 billion.
Meta, which has also been accused of being overly lax in shutting down malicious accounts, said that it has deleted over 134 million scam ads so far this year.
