Negative review blackmail on Google: what to do about an extortion attempt

How the scam works

Google describes the scenario itself: a sudden increase in 1- and 2-star reviews on your profile, followed by a demand for money, goods or services in exchange for removing them¹. The demand usually arrives by email or messaging app: Google mentions WhatsApp and Telegram among the channels to document¹.

Google treats these scams as a serious policy violation, and has set up a dedicated reporting channel for them¹.

First reflex: don't pay, don't negotiate

Google is categorical¹:

• don't engage with the perpetrators and don't send them money: it could encourage further attempts, and doesn't guarantee that the reviews will be removed;
• don't try to solve the problem yourself by offering money or services;
• gather all the evidence immediately: the sooner, the better.

The evidence to gather

To support your report, Google asks for as much evidence as possible¹:

1. screenshots of every message received, showing the date, time and the sender's details (email address, number, profile);
2. direct links to each suspicious review;
3. anything that identifies the perpetrators: names, usernames, email addresses, numbers, social media profiles;
4. the timeline: when you noticed the rise in negative reviews, when the demand arrived, and any similar earlier attempts.

Reporting the extortion to Google

Use the extortion report form linked from Google's help page, cited as a source for this article. Give your contact details and your relationship with the business, its name, address and profile link, the suspicious reviews and the perpetrator's contact methods, with screenshots attached¹. Google reviews the claim and informs you of the outcome, without being able to share details of its investigation¹.

This channel is reserved for extortion attempts. For a review that breaks the rules for another reason, such as spam or off-topic content, use the ordinary report¹, detailed in our guide to fake reviews.

A demand for money under threat is also a criminal offence in most countries: keep your evidence in case you file a complaint.

Should you reply to the reviews in the meantime?

Not to the blackmailers. But under the reviews themselves, a short, factual reply reassures people looking at your profile:

"We can find no trace of this visit. This review has been reported to Google."

Stick to the facts and don't accuse anyone by name: Google rules out personal attacks in replies².

And ReplyTop in this situation?

On Google, ReplyTop keeps 1- and 2-star reviews as drafts until you approve them: a wave of fraudulent reviews will get no automatic reply. With the WhatsApp alert (paid plans), you are notified as soon as the first ones arrive, and can react before they pile up.