The lawsuit alleges that Yosef Bernath, who ran B.E.S.T. GDR, LLC dba Premium Home Services (PHS), set up fake Google Business Profiles (GBPs). The business listings lead to overseas call centers, which would subcontract the work. PHS and Yosef would enroll the consumers in subscription services and long-term contracts with a local company.
The fake GBPs would list addresses where they are not located, and would have fake reviews. KARE 11 covered this network. Their segment showed a list of more than 5,400 GBPs. The list was sorted alphabetically and was in the P’s. We are missing Q through Z. My history tells me that we are missing a good chunk of GBPs in the S and T’s.
The AG’s Press Release showed two GBPs. Both of the GBPs are live on Google. I took a look at GBPs Lance Smith reviewed, and they are live and unclaimed. I decided to call a few, and the phones are still ringing. All but one of them answered. How is this network still alive on Google, and why are phones still working? I called a few of them, and people answered.
Hopefully, Google will remove them shortly.
