Google Business Profiles exist to allow business owners to have a central location online, with all of the contact details, address information and other bits of data made more accessible than might have been the case otherwise. In spite of the fact that this is the case, these business profiles are also giving scammers an easier path to hoodwinking others, using the information on these profiles to trick owners into giving them sensitive data.
The way this works is that a malicious actor might call up a business owner and tell them it needs to be verified, or that it has been flagged. Either way, the business profile is ostensibly slated for deletion if the owner does not follow the advice of the malicious actor, and this scam has cost countless dollars.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there have been 17,000 business profile scams in 2023 alone, coming up to over 2,000 each and every month. Many of these calls are actually robocalls with automated responses, which can make them harder to tell apart than might have been the case otherwise.
This data comes from Hiya, which has been tracking these types of fraud for quite some time now. Based on this research, it was revealed that Kentucky was the worst performing state of all since it had the most scam calls related to Google Business Profiles with all things having been considered and taken into account. Coming in second place was Rhode Island, suggesting that this is not just an issue being faced in the American South. Hawaii came in third, followed by Wyoming.
It’s not surprising that the least wealthy states in the US have the highest number of scam calls, since the people living here might not be aware of the dangers of following the instructions being provided. It is always essential to verify the identity of the individual on the other end, otherwise the chances of getting scammed will become downright absolute, and the problem is clearly getting worse right now.
Read next: 96% of Companies Are Using AI to Fight AI Based Cyber Threat Emails
The way this works is that a malicious actor might call up a business owner and tell them it needs to be verified, or that it has been flagged. Either way, the business profile is ostensibly slated for deletion if the owner does not follow the advice of the malicious actor, and this scam has cost countless dollars.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there have been 17,000 business profile scams in 2023 alone, coming up to over 2,000 each and every month. Many of these calls are actually robocalls with automated responses, which can make them harder to tell apart than might have been the case otherwise.
This data comes from Hiya, which has been tracking these types of fraud for quite some time now. Based on this research, it was revealed that Kentucky was the worst performing state of all since it had the most scam calls related to Google Business Profiles with all things having been considered and taken into account. Coming in second place was Rhode Island, suggesting that this is not just an issue being faced in the American South. Hawaii came in third, followed by Wyoming.
It’s not surprising that the least wealthy states in the US have the highest number of scam calls, since the people living here might not be aware of the dangers of following the instructions being provided. It is always essential to verify the identity of the individual on the other end, otherwise the chances of getting scammed will become downright absolute, and the problem is clearly getting worse right now.
Read next: 96% of Companies Are Using AI to Fight AI Based Cyber Threat Emails
