The Hutton Firm has one 1-star review and one 1-star only Google rating. Three months ago, someone connected to the firm replied to the review and ratings. What’s alarming is how the reviews were replied to. The 1-star review stated that they contacted the firm and were advised they would receive a callback. The only thing necessary for a person to leave a review is to have had a personal interaction with, or a desire to conduct business with, the business in question. The person replying wrote, “Our records indicate that you are not, and have never been, a client of this law firm. As you have never utilized our services, we respectfully request that you remove your review. If the review is not removed within 48 hours, we will be forced to take appropriate legal action.” These replies seem to be used to scare reviewers into removing their reviews. These replies appear to violate the Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA). These replies could also violate State Bar ethics.

Jaser caused more issues for The Hutton Firm. Somebody left 1-star reviews using the names Jay Zaabri and Evolve Construction Careers. If this was Jaser’s own doing, one of these star-only ratings violates Google’s TOS. Jaser is allowed to post one review or rating. The other rating can be viewed as trying to manipulate the GBP’s rating.

One thing is certain: as long as The Hutton Firm has Jaser as a client, they will be extremely busy.

The post The Hutton Firm has a lot to Learn about Reviews first appeared on Review Fraud.

I decided to conduct my own investigation into Evolve Construction’s Google reviews. I found 22 Google Business Profiles (GBP). One has no reviews, and the other has only two. The other locations have between 50 and 143 Google reviews. A vast majority of these review profiles are set to private. This prevents people from seeing which other reviews were left or which photos were uploaded. A high number of profiles set to private is alarming and highly suspicious. I recently discovered a way to unmask these private profiles, and what I found is shocking.

It appears that Evolve Construction either used two different fake-review vendors or that their supplier changed their MO. There was a large gap in the Google reviews. The reviews posted over 10 months ago reviewed countless plumbers, air conditioning businesses, and fishing charters. I have found 224 businesses who recieved positive reviews from people who reviewed an Evolve Construction GBP. One of those businesses is We Level Up Washington. We Level Up is an addiction treatment facility. I know about them because of my breakdown, “A Sobering Look at Addiction Treatment.” I covered how 100’s of addiction treatment and sober living homes had been receiving reviews from the same people. I also found that two addiction treatment locations for Complete Healthcare had been reviewed by people who left reviews for Evolve. Several of the plumber GPBs appear to be fake businesses and are being used for lead generation. This means the caller is farming out to anyone willing to pay for the lead. The person who shows up is not with that business and may not be insured and licensed. The most recent review network has left reviews for businesses in India. The recent reviews started about two months ago. There was a four to five-month period between reviews. So what changed?

Negative Review Attacks

Sadly, these profiles are also being used to post negative reviews for businesses. I found 16 businesses had been hit with negative reviews from people who left reviews for Evolve Construction GBP. One business owner advised me that they had recently submitted a bid to Evolve Construction. 13 of these businesses are located in Texas. One business is located in Houston, four in Austin, and eight in Dallas. The Dallas businesses are all air duct businesses. The negative review attacks started within the past week. One business responded to me, and they advised me that they had never heard of Jaser Jay Zaabri or Evolve Construction.

I noticed an alarming pattern in how Evolve Construction responded to negative reviews. Several review replies claimed to be victims of a coordinated review attack from consumers or an extortion attack. The replies also advise that they are breaking defamation laws and could be sued for what they stated in their review. This seems like a scare tactic to get the reviewer to take down the review. I only found a few negative reviews across the Evolve Construction GBPs. I had expected to find more.

BBB Reviews and Complaints

The Sherman Oaks BBB profile for Evolve Construction has an A+ rating. It has had 71 complaints in the past three years. 29 of those complaints were filed in the past 12 months. A business with this many complaints would have several negative reviews. There are 406 BBB reviews posted since October 13, 2025. It seems like somebody figured out how to bypass the BBB review filter system. I am not a fan of the BBB. They don’t show any complaints past three years. There could be more complaints. As long as a business responds to complaints, it can keep its A+ rating. If Evolve Construction was BBB Accrediated, they would lose it mine and Kay’s data. I am surprised that the BBB has posted a consumer alert with the increase in complaints this year. This is only one of Evolve Construction’s BBB profiles. Good thing Google highlights the themes in the complaints.

There are complaints and news stories about homeowners being ghosted and repairs not being made. I have heard that Jaser Jay Zaabri is not allowed to conduct business in Minnesota. If this is true, then why is their GBP still live on Google and receiving new reviews? A news story claimed that Evolve Construction had started its contract before it had registered in the state. This news story showed a certified letter sent to their listed Nashville address being marked as undeliverable. No forwarding address was set up.

If this business is as shady as it appears, Google needs to suspend the GBPs that are no longer at the posted address, remove the reviews, and post a consumer alert. The BBB needs to downgrade the rating, remove the reviews, and post a consumer alert. Hopefully, enough people have filed complaints with their state attorney general’s office so they can get together and go after Jaser Jay Zaabri. California has the most resources and loves working with other states. They could refer this matter for criminal charges. We could be looking at RICO charges.

Do you have a story to share about Jaser Jay Zaabri and Evolve Construction? Please leave a comment or email me.

The post Can you Trust Jaser Jay Zaabi and Evolve Construction first appeared on Review Fraud.

Top Pro Shield Dryer Cleaning Experts is the GBP that was using an elementary school’s address. My edit was approved, and the GBP was suspended and removed. Master Dry Services OF Vents Cleaning is one of the GBPs that is currently live on Google.

Either these spammers have gotten better at spoofing the documentation, or they have a person(s) on the inside at Google. Since the addresses directly violate Google’s TOS, I am leaning towards having a Googler assist them. I have worked on hundreds of reinstatement cases over the years. The one thing I have noticed is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get reinstated, even with all the proper documentation. So, how can these lead-generation GBPs get reinstated? Two of them were reinstated since I performed my audit yesterday morning.

I have recieved a few complaints from others about lead-generation GBPs flooding their markets. These spammers seem able to create GBPs with ease. They are using addresses that could never be verified via video. They are using parking lots, box stores, and residential addresses. So again, they either know how to spoof Google, or there is an insider at Google helping them. In the dryer vent network, I found evidence that these websites are being developed outside the United States. Could overseas workers be setting up the GBPs as well?

I have seen an increase in complaints from people who were unable to get verified or reinstated in the past year. Some of the businesses I have seen are legitimate and have the proper documentation. So, how are these fake GBPs able to get verified or reinstated? Sadly, once Google discovers how these GBPs are getting created, it will be harder for legitimate businesses to get verified or get reinstated.

These GBPs have fake positive reviews. In 2025, Google removed 13 million reviews and blocked 292 million. These spammers are either lucky or really good at bypassing Google’s security measures.

To recap, we have GBPs with fake reviews that Google should never have verified or allowed to go live, and they are being reinstated after being suspended. Either a Googler is helping them, or Google has another exploit to deal with.

The post Is the Google Business Profile Reinstatement Process Broken? first appeared on Review Fraud.

One of the contributing factors in the increase in reviews being removed is the spate of extortion review attack schemes. 2025 seemed to have a major uptick in extortion review attack schemes. Google released the merchant extortion report form. It does seem to have quieted down, as I haven’t seen any complaints lately.

What is interesting is that in 2022, Google removed 20 million reviews, the highest number. That year, only 115 million reviews were blocked. The number of blocked reviews has increased, while the total number of reviews has remained slightly unchanged.

So, why are Reddit and the help forum seeing an increase in reviews being removed since February 2025? Several people have mentioned a five-day review removal process. Google seems to remove reviews five days after they are posted. Is this part of the Gemini process? It is interesting to note the patterns where we see upticks in help forum threads. November and Decemeber 2025 were two months. The spike started in October 2025 and dropped in January 2025. In February, we saw it spike, then slightly drop in March. April is on pace to surpass February.

The post did state there are plans to, “If we do see a sudden spike in spam reviews, we’ll quickly remove the fake content, pause new reviews on the profile, alert the Business Profile owner and display a notification banner to let consumers know why contributions are temporarily paused. These protections are rolling out globally in the coming weeks.”

I wonder what these warnings will look like. City Farm Roslindale Weed Dispensary received a consumer alert when Google removed what it perceived as fake reviews from its GBP. There are a few businesses I will be keeping an eye on as they have routinely violated Google’s TOS.

The post Google Blocked 292 Million Reviews in 2025 first appeared on Review Fraud.

While I wasn’t able to find any reviews from Jorge Boruda and Michael Trevino, the review from Seth Nicamoff doesn’t look suspicious. However, other reviews appear to violate Google’s TOS. Jamie Reneau is suspicious. They reviewed Law Offices of Michael A. Trevino and LAW OFFICE OF CiCi CUNNINGHAM, PLLC. Prior to this review, a person using the name of Aaron Reneau also reviewed Law Office of Nicholas Abaza. There is a review from Jennifer Borunda Elardi, who also reviewed Borunda P.C.. There is a review from Terry Gomez, who left a keyword-stuffed review for Kherkher Garcia, LLP – Galveston.

It appears that several of these reviews were posted to counter a negative review attack. Several people have left negative reviews over the past two days. They have also reviewed Borunda P.C. and Law Offices of Michael A. Trevino. Some of these reviews appear to violate Google’s TOS.

If the positive and negative reviews are being posted to game the system and were posted to impact the ratings, they need to be removed. Posting positive reviews to counter negative ones or to help friends is not the way to go. I found an account using the name of Nick Abaza that left reviews for Law Offices of Michael A. Trevino, Borunda & Fomby at 440 Louisiana St #900, Houston, TX 77002, and 12141 Wickchester Ln Suite 650, Houston, TX 77079, Wynne Smith & Young, PLLC, The Cobern Law Firm, and Will Contests, which is a business connected to Nicholas Abaza.

Hopefully Google will take action and remove the positive and negative reviews that violate the TOS.

The post What is Happening with the Law Office of Nicholas Abaza’s Google Reviews? first appeared on Review Fraud.

On March 10th, 2026, Google employee Lisa Landsman published a post on the help forum. The write-up is directed towards small businesses and addresses rankings and online reviews. The spotlight on reviews section has some great nuggets of wisdom.

Pro-Tips for Managing Feedback 

• Reply to reviews: Show you’re listening by replying to reviews. Keep replies positive and professional. Instead of sending the same “thank you” to everyone, focus on reviews where you can make the reviewer feel heard with a customized response.
• Don’t panic over a bad review: A mix of positive and negative reviews often feels more authentic and trustworthy to potential customers. Reply promptly, apologize when appropriate, and be honest about your limitations. Never share a reviewer’s private information or engage in personal attacks. If a situation is complex, request that the reviewer contact you directly to resolve the issue privately.

Lisa is telling people to show they are listening by replying to reviews. According to the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Study, 42% of consumers are unlikely to use a business that fails to respond to its reviews.

The next point is not to panic over a negative review. This is where people make matters worse. Potential customers will judge you more on how you respond to the review than on the original review. The goal is to take the conversation offline and, when possible, show remorse and apologize. There is a lot of truth here.

The post Google Provides some Clarity Regarding Online Reviews first appeared on Review Fraud.

One Property Management gained 10 Google reviews through this promotion. They didn’t have the desired effects as they went from a 3.3 average rating to a 3.5 average rating. It’s worse. Google will remove the reviews and warn the business, and they will be out $50. They could be fined up to $51,744 per review. This stunt could cost them $5,1744,000 in total.

Since this review scheme, they have recieved two negative reviews, a 1-star and a 2-star review. Not only will their review count drop once the 10 reviews are removed, but their score will be slightly lower. If they focused on the issues that caused their score to decrease, it would continue to drop. These review schemes don’t work as they don’t fix the underlying issues.

The post ONE Property Management got Caught Exchanging Gift Cards for Google Reviews first appeared on Review Fraud.

Here are the results after scanning the Google Business Profile (GBP) for Flyland Recovery Network.

The tool shows groups of businesses connected to the scanned business and places them into an easy-to-read format.

This is what my original data looked like.

The above list took me months to map out. Now I can spot and identify networks within minutes. Once I identify businesses in a network, I can scan them to find additional businesses.

If you suspect that your competitors are engaging in fraudulent reviews, let me scan them for you. Contact me to inquire about my pricing.

The post My new Fake Review Detection Tool is Live first appeared on Review Fraud.

I identified 181 GBPs in the first network. This network is in California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and one in Washington. I have been able to remove 75 GBPs. I have several websites that didn’t link to a GBP. Google removed those GBPs. The second network is much smaller. I found 32 GBPs. I was able to remove 17 GBPs.

While these networks appear to be different, there are similarities. They are using private residences for the addresses. These are service-based businesses. They travel to their client’s home to perform their services. Yet, they show popular times on their profiles. Popular times mean people are visiting the business. Nobody is bringing their dryer or dryer vents to these businesses. The profiles also have several fake reviews.

The above GBP for Evolve Dryer Vent Cleaning Services uses a private residence, yet it has traffic around the clock. The reviews are fake. One user using the name of ohn Carter left a review for a psychic in Brampton, Canada, and for an appliance repair company in Los Angeles, California. There are other fake reviews posted on this profile.

There are services that offer Click-through Rate (CTR) manipulation services. One of those companies is Jumper Media. The CEO, Colton Bollinger, claims that they don’t fake the clicks. He states that they are offering in-game discounts to people to travel to the businesses and leave their driving directions turned on. Jumper Media once offered fake reviews. I am not sure if they still do.

There is a negative review on Jumper Media’s GBP claiming that the person was supposed to receive 100 fake reviews and only received 20. Somebody replied to the review and acknowledged that their vendor dropped the ball. They signed the review as Cotlon, the company’s CEO.

These networks rely on black hat tactics to outrank and perform like legitimate businesses. They sell the leads to anyone willing to pay. Consumers don’t know who is showing up at their door, whether they will be price-gouged, or whether they will receive subpar service. The second network posted the photo of their “owner,” Carlos Montoya.

There appear to be two different Carlos Montoyas. Here is the second Carlos.

Is this a case of not changing the owner’s name or of mistakenly uploading the wrong photo? This image has no matches. I ask this because there is evidence that these websites were edited overseas. There seems to be a lack of oversight and quality control.

One of the profiles I was able to get suspended is live on Google as of this morning. The profile is still showing the address. Did they apply for reinstatement, or were they able to create a new profile again?

Regardless, these websites and GBPs are a plague on the system. They prevent consumers from making an informed decision. The companies that sell black hat CTR manipulation and fake reviews are also to blame. At some point, Google needs to take stronger action and start suing the people behind these networks and the review sellers. Until that time, we will continue to play whack-a-mole.

The post The Anatomy of an Air Duct Cleaning Spam Network. first appeared on Review Fraud.

One alarming trend is that these profiles left one only review and uploaded 50 to 90 photos. There is no way to tell if they uploaded the photos for the same business or across several businesses. The reviews were posted within the past two months. A few negative reviews mention that the apartments are under new management. The reviews don’t seem to be coming from the new management company. It seems that an employee with Wau Lin Cree Apartments is behind the reviews.

If these reviews were being used to repair the image for the Wau Lin Cree Apartments, then they didn’t do themselve any favors here. Each review could result in a $51,744 fine. I wonder how long these reviews remain live.

The post Is Somebody Buying Fake Google Reviews for Wau Lin Cree Apartments first appeared on Review Fraud.