Restaurant fights negative review extortion scam

Small businesses can gain a lot through a strong online reputation - each positive review can add a layer of authenticity, and give customers more confidence that they will receive a good service.

However, after one restaurateur noticed fake negative reviews being posted to Google, she was contacted by a company asking for money to remove them for her.

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Denisse Rojas-Valdez, who owns a Mexican restaurant in Adelaide, Australia, had a near-perfect rating of 4.9 on Google - and after she saw a fake negative review had dropped their score, she started receiving emails.

The messages, seemingly from a company in the United States, were offering to get negative reviews taken down for a fee because it might "conflict with Google's review policies", as the review said there was a better value "hot pot" next door, even though there was not one in the local area.

She blocked the email address but received more after the sender set up a new account.

Ms Rojas-Valdez smelled a rat as she had previously received similar offers from WhatsApp numbers based in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Speaking to ABC Adelaide, she says "I got these emails and started to realise I was a victim of extortion".

Google warns of negative review extortion scams, saying it "may involve a sudden increase in 1-star and 2-star reviews on your Google Business Profile, followed by someone demanding money, goods or services in exchange for removing the negative reviews".

It urges business owners to not engage or pay, not to try and resolve it themselves, gather evidence and report it to Google.

This is what Ms Rojas-Valdez did, and the negative reviews were removed, though she described the process as "a lot of work".

"I was really upset," she told ABC.

"It's not about the stars. It's because people can think, 'Oh, they [the restaurant] changed management. They are compromising quality. What is happening?', and that's why I decided to take action."

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