Car-selling platform gets offer to remove 1-star reviews for money
The Motorist portal got a message from someone claiming he was paid to post negative Google reviews of the business.
A car-selling platform received messages from someone claiming he was paid to post negative Google reviews of the business and asked the platform to pay him to delete the reviews.
Stomper Jake, who is the Chief Marketing Officer of Motorist, shared screenshots of the WhatsApp messages he received from the unknown person.
He said: "We were contacted by an individual who claimed he was paid to post 30 fake one-star Google reviews targeting our company.
"He had already published several and sent a message requesting us to pay him to stop posting the remaining reviews."
In the messages, the individual said the car dealer's competitor paid him to "completely damage this business" by lowering the Google rating.
One message read: "If you pay me, I will delete all reviews and give you all details."
The Stomper also posted a video talking about it on TikTok.
He told Stomp: "We have already filed reports with Google and are working to gather evidence."
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a police report has also been lodged.
The Stomper said: "We're concerned that this may be part of a broader scheme that could impact other local businesses as well - especially those that rely on public reviews to build credibility and attract customers.
"Thank you for your time and for continuing to spotlight issues that matter to the local community."