They’re going through a transition period where they’re moving from retail outlets into more of a digital environment,” he said. “Small-medium-sized businesses are going through a really tough time. Sumit Bhatia, director of communications and knowledge mobilization with Ryerson University’s Cybersecure Catalyst, said in an interview he wasn’t at all surprised that businesses are getting hit with these types of scams. Riabko said someone at Google reached out to her, adding she is in the process of trying to get it resolved.

Thomson added in circumstances where the extortion scam is attacking a business’s reviews and ratings, it’s important to contact Google immediately to seek support. There were 17,390 reports resulting in $12.5 million lost. That’s certainly a stronger indication of what I would say a more sophisticated, organized criminal,” he said.Ī CAFC report indicated that extortion was the number one reported scam by Canadians in 2020. “Having the conversation being taken off to WhatsApp. Jeff Thomson, a senior intelligence analyst at the CAFC, said in an interview he’s never seen an extortion scam taken to this level before. “We did not know it existed until customers started telling us about it,” she said. Riabko said she had not contacted the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). Riabko decided to engage with the scammer, who asked to take the conversation to WhatsApp, at which point the messages became threatening and demands for money began. Riabko said after going through and reading the reviews, many of them seemed fake and written in poor English. They decided to ignore the message, but the next day found numerous negative reviews dropping their 4.5-star rating on Google down to 1. Riabko said the message came from a person claiming they could help the business with reviews and ratings. 20 when Riabko’s sister read a direct message on their Facebook page. These were the WhatsApp messages an unnamed scammer sent Kamilla Riabko, who helps support her family-run business called Ottawa Perogies.

All negative reviews will removed and i will share all about your enemy also i can destroy yours enemies business.” “Mem! At least if you give me 500$ then I will work for you.” Ottawa Perogies was hit with an extortion scam that has affected their business, which is all online.

Whatsapp extortion