A fake Google Business Profile is using your company name: what to do

1. Work out which case you are in

These scams mostly target emergency trades (locksmiths, plumbers, towing, repairs), where customers call the first number they see. In March 2025, Google sued a network it accused of creating fake listings and hijacking real ones in exactly these trades.

2. First steps

1. Save evidence before you report: the listing link ("Share" on the listing, then copy the link), dated screenshots of the name, number, website and reviews, and messages from customers who were fooled (date, amount, what they were told). Once reported, a listing can vanish along with your evidence.
2. Don't call the fake number to confront them: you gain nothing and you tip them off.
3. Gather your proof: business registration, official address and phone number, trademark registration if you have one.
4. Brief your staff: anyone who hears from an angry customer about a job you never did should note the name, date and number they called.

3. Report a fake listing to Google

1. On Google Maps, open the fake listing, click "Suggest an edit", then "Place is closed or not here", and pick the matching reason: "Doesn't exist here" for an invented address, "Offensive, harmful, or misleading" for a listing posing as you. You need to be signed in to a Google account. If Google approves, the listing is removed from Search and Maps.
2. Also file the Business Redressal Complaint Form. It exists for misleading or fraudulent names, phone numbers and websites on Google Maps. Give your company name, the listing link, the type of content and a short factual explanation: "This listing uses our company name [name, registration number] with a phone number that is not ours; customers report being charged by a third party." Google says it cannot guarantee action and will not update you on the status.
3. If your trademark is registered, also use "Report Content On Google": choose Google Maps, then the trademark reason. Only the owner or an authorised representative can file.
4. Report fake reviews on the fake listing or on yours, one by one, from each review's menu.
5. Follow up in writing if nothing happens. In the EU, Google Maps is a "very large online platform" under the Digital Services Act and must handle notices of illegal content and explain its decisions. Our takedown request template can help.
6. If the fake listing links to a clone site using your branding, deal with that too: see our guide to fake websites impersonating a business.

4. Your own listing was edited or hijacked

1. An edit suggested by someone else (new number, new website, listing marked "closed"): Google notifies the owner, who has 4 days to accept or reject it; after that, Google may publish it. Check your notifications, reject the edit and restore your details directly in your profile.
2. Check who has access: "More", "Business Profile settings", then "People and access". Remove any owner or manager you don't recognise, and turn on 2-Step Verification for the Google account that manages the profile.
3. If you are no longer the owner, request ownership: go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, select the listing, then "Request access". The current owner has 3 days to respond. If they don't, you may be able to claim it from the confirmation email ("View request", then "Verify"). Google says this option isn't always available. If the request is denied, you can still suggest edits and try to appeal.
4. Contact Google Business Profile support from its help center, signed in to the account that should manage the profile, with your proof. If a former agency refuses to hand back access, that is a business dispute: take it to your lawyer.

5. Warn your customers

• On your website, social accounts and voicemail: "A fake Google listing is using our name. Our only number is … We never ask for payment by phone before a job."
• Put your official number prominently on quotes, invoices and vans.
• If you manage your real listing, keep it complete and current: an active, verified profile helps customers tell the difference.

6. Report the fraud and get legal help

United States: report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; its Impersonation Rule covers scammers who pose as businesses. If customers lost money online, report to the FBI's IC3.

United Kingdom: report to Report Fraud (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); in Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Everywhere: ask customers who paid to report it too, and to call their bank. Lawsuits, cease-and-desist letters and court orders to unmask the operator are a job for a lawyer. This page does not replace one.

7. What the law says

In the US, the Lanham Act protects registered and unregistered marks against confusing use (15 U.S.C. §1114 and §1125(a)), and taking money by posing as your business is fraud under state and federal law. In the UK, the Trade Marks Act 1994 protects registered marks, passing off protects goodwill without registration, and the Fraud Act 2006 covers fraud by false representation. In the EU, the Digital Services Act requires platforms to offer a way to report illegal content and to give reasons for their decisions. This page is general information, not legal advice.