JakartaPost-Aug 14, 2024
Google will restore accurate information displayed on its Maps services after the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) reported that hundreds of its members had seen their business details falsely altered by users intending to scam potential customers. The tech giant admitted that it had experienced a technical issue, which resulted in changes in information on a number of Google Business Profile accounts and said that it was fixing the issue to prevent future inaccurate information updates. “We understand there are issues with [false] information on business profiles,” Google said in a statement published on X on Tuesday. “Our policies clearly state that user-generated changes must be based on factual information, and our team works around the clock to combat activity that violates our policies.” Users with Google accounts can suggest an edit to profiles of businesses in Maps that the tech giant would review before deciding whether to change a place’s information or not. This includes addresses, phone numbers, social media links and business hours, among much else. Meanwhile, owners can update this information by logging onto their Google Business Profile account profile. The PHRI first raised the alarm in a press conference on Monday stating that members in various provinces, including West Sumatra, Riau, Jakarta, Central Java and Yogyakarta had claimed their Google Business Profile accounts were hacked. Members reported hotels’ official phone numbers being changed to phone numbers belonging to scammers that would redirect payments for hotel bookings to their personal bank accounts, including by falsely slashing room rates to attract potential customers. In response, members in many regions in Indonesia would file a police report soon, as well as identifying other impacted hotels, he said. Yantie Yulianti, a representative of the PHRI in Central Java, said that 10 hotels had reported that customers had transferred hotel reservation fees to bogus bank accounts. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2024/08/14/google-vows-to-redact-fraudulent-maps-business-data.html
