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Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

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Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#91

Post by reaperducer »

specialp wrote: post #35

If Google is going to have customers remain on their site for search information they have the duty to ensure it is accurate. More and more searches are now given a placard that is either community generated or scraped whether it be maps or the main search. A search that used to feature a link to the bank's "Contact Us" page is now being taken by Google with the link being buried further down between more ads. I get…

they have the duty to ensure it is accurate

Accuracy doesn't pay. Giving results that are "pretty close" keeps people searching and searching and searching for what they need, and racks up the ad dollars.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#92

Post by mehrdadn »

superflyguy wrote: post #75
optimiz3 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Google pay you to moderate? What is the user incentive to commit hours of time to a 3rd party commercial enterprise?

Stack overflow is pretty popular. Although their recent attempt to "be nice to new users" (which wasn't necessary before, and coincides with the quality of answers rapidly approaching that of Quota) suggests that this won't last forever.

> coincides with the quality of answers rapidly approaching that of Quota

Do you perceive Quora to have higher or lower quality answers? I'm having trouble parsing what you meant to say.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#93

Post by starik36 »

There is some scam going on in Lake Powell, AZ. We visited there in September and yelped a well reviewed place: CNG Burgers. We arrive there and can't find it. It simply isn't there. And not just isn't there - there is NO trace of it on the building that matched the address (like where there would a lighter shade of paint behind where the restaurant sign was - at least according to the photos on Google Maps).

Oh well, onto the restaurant across the street. Asked the waitress there about CNG Burgers - she's never heard of it and said that she's worked there for a year. I looked on Google Maps and CNG received a ton of recent reviews.

Reading this thread compelled me to look at it again. Finally, Yelp is listing it as closed (I reported it as such), however, there are reviews as recent as 2 weeks ago.

On Google Maps, it's still active - all recent reviews by Local Guides.

Still not sure what it all means.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#94

Post by gordo4 »

duiker101 wrote: post #83
black-tea wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you work for Google for no pay? OpenStreetMap always needs work. Help the community.

Honestly for me it boils down to Google maps being just a superior app. It's not even the amount of data in itself(which is a lot already tbh) but just the app being better. I don't think I have seen a decent OSM app yet.

OsmAnd is far superior to Google Maps in my opinion, especially for backcountry offline navigation. It's one of the most important apps when traveling abroad or when cell service is spotty. Google Maps is basically useless in rural South America, for example... and OSM is actually more up to date than Google Maps when it comes to river crossings, etc... and POI data is available for offline use. Google Maps can't even do offline navigation and rerouting.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#95

Post by bpye »

black-tea wrote: post #82
dawnerd wrote: post #6

I do a lot of Google Maps moderation and there’s a ton of bad changes being attempted every day. Honestly I’m amazed Google doesn’t bother to vet anyone really. Becoming a local guide is easy and not that difficult for a spam group to create enough fake accounts to get things pushed through. Just last night I caught the local Target that was reclassified as a “prison”. What Google needs to do is lock information for…

Why do you work for Google for no pay? OpenStreetMap always needs work. Help the community.

I always try to submit my changes to both. I would like OSM to be great but I find myself using Google Maps as well, it's good for me for both to be up to date.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#96

Post by ksherlock »

starik36 wrote: post #93

There is some scam going on in Lake Powell, AZ. We visited there in September and yelped a well reviewed place: CNG Burgers. We arrive there and can't find it. It simply isn't there. And not just isn't there - there is NO trace of it on the building that matched the address (like where there would a lighter shade of paint behind where the restaurant sign was - at least according to the photos on Google Maps). Oh well…

This one? http://pageburgers.com/directions.html

Google maps has an image capture from May 2018 with their sign up.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#97

Post by Nasrudith »

amelius wrote: post #8
dawnerd wrote: post #6

I do a lot of Google Maps moderation and there’s a ton of bad changes being attempted every day. Honestly I’m amazed Google doesn’t bother to vet anyone really. Becoming a local guide is easy and not that difficult for a spam group to create enough fake accounts to get things pushed through. Just last night I caught the local Target that was reclassified as a “prison”. What Google needs to do is lock information for…

In turn, I'm amazed that people put effort into databases that are owned by companies. Wouldn't it be much more fulfilling to do the same work for an open database, such as open street maps?

Many of those are just looking for free advertising really as well - in particular if they are a retail front or real estate for sale or let. Just enter in this information you want to give to customers to get a free advertising? Any sane business says yes please.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#98

Post by starik36 »

ksherlock wrote: post #96
starik36 wrote: post #93

There is some scam going on in Lake Powell, AZ. We visited there in September and yelped a well reviewed place: CNG Burgers. We arrive there and can't find it. It simply isn't there. And not just isn't there - there is NO trace of it on the building that matched the address (like where there would a lighter shade of paint behind where the restaurant sign was - at least according to the photos on Google Maps). Oh well…

This one? http://pageburgers.com/directions.html Google maps has an image capture from May 2018 with their sign up.

I know. https://i.imgur.com/s5qesHC.jpg

Except, the restaurant is not there. None of the signs are on the building except for Lake Powell Realty. Not the "Restaurant" sign on the left, not the CNG Burgers sign in the middle. And the reviews kept on coming even after we left.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#99

Post by Nasrudith »

specialp wrote: post #35

If Google is going to have customers remain on their site for search information they have the duty to ensure it is accurate. More and more searches are now given a placard that is either community generated or scraped whether it be maps or the main search. A search that used to feature a link to the bank's "Contact Us" page is now being taken by Google with the link being buried further down between more ads. I get…

The dirty truth is that it isn't accuracy but what people want that keeps them coming back. If I were to set up a hillariously inaccurate database that used machine learning to generate incoherent transcripts I would get way more traffic then if it was accurate. This isn't new at all. People pay more attention to the ballad which attributed a single soldier pushing through a phalanx than the truth it was his own phalanx combined with a flanking auxiliary that broke through and gave victory.

Similarly Google was never about accuracy per say but indexing. It says what people are saying essentially. People may say that Ted Cruz is the zodiac killer but he would have been way too young in reality - amusing as the actual police sketch resemblance is. It just isn't capable of knowing the truth and that isn't its true purpose any more than a regex is to give you dictionary definitions.

I do wonder what would make a better system for maintaining these sorts of things. The whole identification and authentication systems in place are honestly pretty bad in legacy systems both technically and legislatively - combines with rightful concern about abuse potential in upgrades make it seem like something which will take generations to solve.

Re: Scammers are changing the contact details for banks on Google Maps

#100

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

qrbLPHiKpiux wrote: post #80
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #77

I got burned by a similar scam with information changes in google. I was looking for a specific restaurant in google and used the given address to get there. When I got there I found out it was a different restaurant. I asked about the other restaurant and they told me the other restaurant had gone out of business. A complete lie. I'm sure they hired a company to promote them and they used this trick to increase thei…

I don’t initially trust anything on he internet without second source verification. The internet is just one big scam pot today and at the same time, since using it before wide spread public use, I’m fascinated with watching it evolve, devolve since then.

Not the internet per se, scams are all over society. It's sad but true.
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