For starters, how did a Google employee find out that a competitor flagged the reviews, and why did they tell Kurt? This is a privacy violation and unethical. Google needs to identify this employee and address the situation. Also, if this employee helped Kurt get the reviews reinstated, that needs to be investigated too. This practice is not allowed. I have heard that Google had a similar issue in the past and ended it.

Some of the reviews I am looking at violate Google’s TOS and should never have been reinstated. London Harker Injury Law has clients reviewing more than one of their locations. Clients may only review the office where they interacted. Clients leaving reviews for multiple locations violates the TOS and is considered review manipulation.

Google takes Fake & Misleading Content seriously. Contributions to Google Maps should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business, and a review or rating should reflect an actual experience with a business, and be genuine and unbiased. Identifying and removing Fake or Biased Content and instances of Rating Manipulation are part of how we keep maps trustworthy, reliable, and useful.

 Fake Engagement 

Contributions to Google Maps should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business. Fake engagement is not allowed and will be removed.

This includes:

• Content that is not based on a real experience or does not accurately represent the location or product in question. 
• Reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind.
• Content that has been posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person.
• Content that has been posted using an emulator or other device tampering service, modified operating system, or other method to mimic genuine engagement, manipulate sensor data or results, or otherwise thwart or confuse normal operations.

We do not allow merchants or users to:

• Solicit or encourage the posting of content that does not represent a genuine experience.
• Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services – in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review.
• Post content on a competitor’s place or business to undermine that business’ or product’s reputation.

Rating Manipulation

Contributions to Google Maps should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business. Rating Manipulation includes Incentivized or Biased Reviews, which are not allowed and will be removed from Maps.

This includes:

• Content that has been posted due to an incentive offered by a business – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services.
  • This includes content posted following requests for revision or removal of a review or rating in exchange for an incentive.
• Content exhibiting unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions that are indicative of efforts to manipulate a place’s rating
• Content that is based on a conflict of interest. A conflict of interest may include current or former employment, a contractual or consultory relationship, or other professional or personal affiliations that demonstrate a conflict of interest (such as industry competitors, familial relationships, etc.). 

Three TOS violations relate to clients posting reviews across multiple locations. It never ceases to amaze me that when I see these patterns of abuse, it’s for personal injury lawyers. I have previously identified Brandon J. Broderick and Morgan and Morgan doing the same.

If London Harker Injury Law wants to keep their reviews, they need to make sure their clients are not reviewing more than one location.

The post How did London Harker Injury Law lose its Google Reviews? first appeared on Review Fraud.

In this case, I have identified two possible culprits. First, the business offers free Wi-Fi for its customers. Google does remove reviews when they all come from the same IP address. The next likely culprit is that the business has QR codes for its cleints to scan to leave a review. I have seen a sharp uptick in businesses that have lost reviews using QR codes. If these were the only two issues, the business could contact Google and get most of the reviews back. This business deserves to lose more reviews.

This business started off offering a 5% discount in exchange for Google reviews in Febuary 2023. Then they switched and started offering a free joint in exchange for a Google review. Google needs to remove all or the reviews dating back to February 8, 2023. Google needs to email this business and tell them to stop this practice.

If you don’t want to be like LV Cannabis Boutique and lose reviews, don’t use a QR code to ask for reviews, don’t allow customers to use your Wi-Fi, and don’t offer a discount in exchange for reviews.

Update: While writing up this post, the Reddit user LVCannabis deleted the posts. They didn’t delete all of their comments on one of the posts. In one comment, they admitted to incentivizing reviews. “Fair point. We did have that promotion in the past. We’ve removed it now and changed our review process.”

The post Why did LV Cannabis Boutique lose 1900 Google Reviews? first appeared on Review Fraud.

Steve Miller left a 5-star review on September 19, 2019. Steve was named in a lawsuit against Starr Manufacturing on December 19, 2024. Stephanie Young left a review claiming she never hired them but drove by. Starr Manufacturing employee Kris Barlow wrote a 5-star review. Andrew Paul, another Starr Manufacturing employee, left a 5-star review. These four reviews could cost them $206,976.

Starr Manufacturing has been sued one other time for sexual harassment. They have a 2.9 Glassdoor Rating. CEO Andreas Foerster has a 44% approval rating. Only 40% of people would recommend Starr Manufacturing to a friend.

If Julie’s review is true, she will provide the documents in court. This could be a costly mistake for Starr Manufacturing. People are posting negative reviews on their Facebook page. Their Yelp profile hasn’t been hit. It could be because it’s listed as Starr Fabricating. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

The post Starr Manufacturing sues over 1-Star Google Review first appeared on Review Fraud.

We have the brother-and-sister duo Phi D and Tri D. Phi has posted 306 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for four years. Tri has posted 246 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for four years as well. Next we have Anita L. Anita has posted 169 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for three years. Finally, we have Rathana K, who has posted 91 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for five years. We can’t tell which reviews are legitimate and which ones were contracted. A consumer would have cross-referenced the business review with the reviewer’s social media profiles. I decided to randomly check some of the businesses being reviewed. The second business I checked was CLEO Nail Bar in Pasadena, CA. I found several reviews from Yelp Elite reviewers. One of those reviewers, Tina T, left a review on July 7, 2026. On her Instagram, her profile states DM for Invites & Collabs.

Phi left a review for The Haven Detox in Blackwood, NJ on June 5, 2026. Her brother left a review for Indiana Center for Recovery in Bloomington, IN. I know both of these addiction treatment facilities well. In 2025, I mapped out the reviews for Yellowstone Ranch Recovery. By the time I was stopped, I had found 490 addiction treatment and sober living homes connected by people who reviewed at least one facility. Seeing these two facilities reviewed by a brother-and-sister duo from Southern California is alarming. Indiana Center for Recovery’s last live 5-star Yelp review was left on August 27, 2025. Several other 5-star reviews have been removed.

If these Yelp Elites are selling reviews to businesses, it hurts consumers and businesses that play by the rules. Yelp is rewarding these reviews with perks and special events. Yelp also gives Yelp Elite reviews more weight.

Time will tell if Yelp removes the reviews and their Elite status. Yelp needs to address this situation and end it once and for all. I have a link to another Yelp Elite suspected of doing the same thing; let’s see if Yelp finds them and takes any action.

The post Are Yelp Elites Being Paid to Post Fake Reviews first appeared on Review Fraud.

This act violates Google’s TOS.
We do not allow merchants to:
Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services – in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review.

Has Brightview Cleaning Services done this in the past with others who left negative reviews? The business has only two other negative reviews. One review raises another red flag. In the review, they wrote, “I believe they outsource the cleaners.” As it turns out, Brightview Cleaning Services is a referral service. This makes their Google Business Profile ineligible. Google doesn’t allow lead-generation businesses to have a maps listing.

Google has the following restrictions and qualifications for Business Profiles:

Ineligible businesses

To qualify for a Business Profile on Google, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.

For example, the following businesses are not eligible for a Business Profile:

• An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don’t own or have the authority to represent.
• Lead generation agents or companies.
• Brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses.
• Rental or for-sale properties such as vacation homes, model homes, or vacant apartments.

Brightview Cleaning Services clearly states on the bottom of the website, “We are a referral agency.” They use the address of a business willing to rent out an office for a day or to receive mail. Needless to say, this address is also ineligible for a GBP. This business is not registered with the California Secretary of State, and San Diego has no DBA on record.

To recap, the address is a real office location; I can’t confirm they are registered online anywhere; they may have a city license; they are offering money to remove negative reviews; and they are subcontracting the work. You have no idea who is coming to your home or if you can trust the reviews.

Needless to say, Brightview Cleaning Services won’t be on Google much longer. I am going to report their GBP to Google for removal. They will be hard-pressed to get reinstated once they’re suspended. Hopefully, they don’t come back or start under a different business name.

The post Don’t Trust Brightview Cleaning Services in La Mesa first appeared on Review Fraud.

David started bringing up Devon’s looks, called him a douche, and made fun of him for posting photos with filters. It was on like Donkey Kong. David and Devon engaged in trading insults. Things took a dark turn when David started making homophobic remarks. David’s first homophobic remark was, “This ain’t a hook up queer bait”. He then followed up with, “Ok broke back mountain hahaha”. This is a reference to the movie Brokeback Mountain, where two male characters have an affair. The insults go from talking about each other’s looks to David questioning Devon’s sexual orientation. You can view the exchange here.

This all stemmed from a negative review. Alpen Haus currently has a 3.9 Yelp rating with 8 reviews. Devon did update his review after the homophobic DMs. I wonder if the other people who left negative reviews were contacted by David. Interestingly, David only mentioned the Google reviews and rating. I am not sure if he knows about the Yelp reviews.

David has a feature reel on his Facebook profile with three inspirational messages. It’s a shame that David didn’t take his own advice before he messaged Devon. Looks like Devon chose revenge.

Alpen Haus recently opened and is not off to a good start. It appears that they opened on July 30, 2026. If David keeps acting like this, they will be closed in no time. Hopefully, the owner(s) stop this practice or fire David to protect their business. He is a liability.

The post Alpen Haus Employee Lashes Out over Negative Review  first appeared on Review Fraud.

I have found several reviews complaining about the staff being rude. I asked Ill-Ant-8943 how the business addresses complaints and negative reviews. I already knew the answer to this, but I was curious to hear their answer. You can imagine my shock when Ill-Ant-8943 replied with, “With pure kindness and inviting them back for a do over and that usually results in either a 5 star or a review deletion – 4 of our 6 locations are 4.9 on google maps.” While I saw some replies that echoed this, others contradicted this statement.

In one review, they replied with the following:
“Paul news flash – perhaps you don’t realize every top bagel shop gets their nova from Acme – they have been smoking fish for over 100 years
So if your giving us a 1 star that means every top bagel shop in NYC is a 1 star and 1000s of our daily guests knows That’s not true – perhaps you never had real. Authentic premium nova lox before – either way if you were not happy we are in the service business and are the best rated bagel shop out of over 270 in NYC – you could have easily asked for a replacement or a refund – but it’s over the top mean spirited to give a top rated well lived bagel shop a 1 star – so sadly all your selfish 1 star does is hurt our hard working dedicated team members
It was a pleasure to have you as our guest – but your rating is not very nice Paul – enjoy your day
Btw I see based on your review history you love trashing places with 1 star reviews- wow 😂”

In another review they replied with:
“You outed yourself Marianna and we will
Report you to google – we are a top rated bagel shop – you will lose your google account for telling lies trying to harm a business. It’s obvious you have an agenda – good luck keeping your google account – google takes fake false business harassment very seriously – plus your review is fake this is west 58th st you were at east 58th st – nice try Marianna look at your review history all
One stars claiming horrible business- stop the lies”

Here is one more reply to a review:
“Update
I thanked you for being my guest and was respectful in my response / sadly Jo Jo
You have anger issues and there is nothing I can do about that
As stated sadly yes mistakes can happen / but why did you not give yourself the opportunity and my team the opportunity to fix it Jo Jo ?

I apologize for the mistake Jo Jo
But Respectfully it’s an ugly thing to play the race card – our entire team is from South America and east Asia – sadly mistakes can and do happen rather than complaining why not give yourself and our dedicated team the opportunity to fix the issue.
If you say nothing while here how can we fix the issue – look at our amazing rating – we are a top rated bagel shop with almost 5000 reviews out of over 200 NYC bagel shops and we have the best prices

Thanks for bring our guest

Happy new year

Ya know you get more bees with honey than with vinegar”

None of these replies are “pure kindness and inviting.” These replies are mean-spirited and dismissive of the feedback being left. It doesn’t appear that the business is taking the feedback seriously and addressing the issue. As I am writing this up, Ill-Ant-8943 replied to me with, “I see you here to cause trouble I should have know you were a troll clown go away or I will repost you for Harrament.” Notice the typos, grammatical errors, and missing punctuation in this and the replies to the reviews. Does this person have anger issues? Ill-Ant-8943 blocked me after they replied.

Ill-Ant-8943 stated that one of their marketing tactics is, “We do simple 4:3 food posts every other day.” One of their Google Business Profile (GBP) posts cropped the image from a negative review and used it to show off their food.

The bottom line is that if this business doesn’t start addressing the issues leading to the negative reviews and stops being rude in their review replies, they will be out of business. If anybody who recieved one of their nasty replies posted this on social media, this business could go viral for all the wrong reasons. If Robert or Ill-Ant-8943 respond in person the same way they do online, they could get captured on video and go viral. This also highlights the dangers of social media. Anybody can say what they want online, but that doesn’t mean that they are always telling the truth.

The post Broad Nosh Bagels has an Interesting way to Handle Negative Reviews first appeared on Review Fraud.

In the updated review, the reviewer called out the business for offering free chips in exchange for leaving a review. In the Instagram exchange, Fish N Fry stated, “Also, I want to clarify that we do not exchange reviews for free chips. The chips are simply an incentive for customers who take time to leave feedback, whether the review is positive or negative.” No matter how you phrase it, this business is incentivizing customers with free chips for reviews.

I wish that the story ended here. It gets worse. Apparently somebody used their Instagram account to impersonate one of the businesses this reviewer also reviewed. Talk about making matters worse. The business in question came out and stated that somebody was impersonating them.

Fish N Fry should have taken feedback in this review and attempted to fix their service issues. Instead, they reached out to the reviewer on several occasions, making matters worse. Now Fish N Fry is experiencing the Streisand Effect. Instead of getting the review taken down, they have made matters worse. Now all of their reviews are being called into question. They are being accused of having somebody impersonate another business to harass the reviewer. I wonder how many other reviewers were harassed into updating or removing their reviews.

Sadly, all of this could have been avoided. This business will learn a valuable lesson and may lose many reviews. Google may restrict their Google reviews for two months and place a warning on their business profile.

The post Fish N Fry Makes Matters Worse first appeared on Review Fraud.

Mark Perez left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, and Potomac Taphouse.
Satnam Singh left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, and Thai Me Up in Greenwood Village, CO.
Scott Hall left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Potomac Taphouse, and Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa.
Nathan Young left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Potomac Taphouse, and Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa.
Syed umer left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, and Potomac Taphouse.

There are six profiles set to private. This means that when you click on them, you can’t see the businesses they reviewed. Those profiles are: Muhammad Shahbaz, Wahid Khan, Gursimran Singh, Tejinder Singh, Toni Duggan, and Simranjit Singh. I am able to unmask these profiles.

Muhammad Shahbaz left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Bao Nine, and Karma Indian Restaurant,
Wahid Khan left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Bao Nine, and Karma Indian Restaurant.
Gursimran Singh left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Bao Nine, and Karma Indian Restaurant.
Tejinder Singh left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Bao Nine, and Karma Indian Restaurant.
Toni Duggan left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Karma Indian Restaurant, Potomac Taphouse, and Thai Me Up.
Simranjit Singh left a review for Sangamam, Arash Persian Grill, Thai Me Up, Potomac Taphouse, and Restyle Automotive.

The post Is Sangamam in Seattle covering up Negative Reviews with Fake Reviews? first appeared on Review Fraud.

The major complaint is that they have been entering people into a raffle when they leave a Google review. There is evidence that this has been taking place since at least May 26, 2025. When Google learns about this, the reviews for both locations will be removed, dating back to May 26, 2025. Reviews that are not a part of this raffle will be removed, as Google can’t determine how many were obtained legitimately.

These reviews led to a redressal by the FTC. Each review can cost them up to $51,744. Google will remove those reviews, saving this practice a considerable amount of money. The question remains how long it will take Google to remove these reviews

The post Is Pearl Orthodontics Playing Fast and Loose with Google? first appeared on Review Fraud.