Google took down 3 mn fake business profiles last year

Tech giant Google took down over three million fake business profiles last year from Google Maps that could potentially defraud customers, according to a company blogpost.

Google, which helps people connect with businesses by offering information like contact details and directions to the establishment, said business scammers occasionally take advantage of local listings to make a profit.

These scammers charge business owners for services that are actually free, defraud customers by posing as real businesses, and impersonate real businesses to secure leads and then sell them, Google Maps Product Director Ethan Russell said in a recent blogpost.

He added that the company has been using a wide array of techniques and approaches to limit abuse on its platforms.

"(Last year), we took down more than three million fake business profiles and more than 90 per cent of those business profiles were removed before a user could even see the profile. Our internal systems were responsible for more .