I’m listening to studies of some spammers or hackers hijacking some Google Lodge listings by marking some resorts as completely closed and likewise altering the cellphone numbers to WhatsApp numbers. This is usually a large concern for a lot of resort operators, however I’m not positive how widespread the difficulty is.
Every week or so in the past, somebody reached out about this, however I’m not capable of finding that message. Now Nevena Ivanova posted on X about it, saying, “Large hack wave hitting Indonesia and UAE! Attackers are integrating private WhatsApp numbers into Google listings in Indonesia, whereas UAE faces a coordinated assault, altering legit resort titles to “Completely closed.””
Nevena added, “Keep vigilant and monitor your GBP.”
Here’s a screenshot of somebody including a pretend WhatsApp quantity to an inventory:
Listed below are some resorts that had been marked as completely closed, when they don’t seem to be:
In case you seek for that WhatsApp quantity some hotel listings are returned.
I imply, marking businesses as closed has been happening for a decade nevertheless it is likely to be a brand new subject for resorts?
🚨 Pressing Alert! 🚨 Large hack wave hitting Indonesia and UAE! Attackers are integrating private WhatsApp numbers into Google listings in Indonesia, whereas UAE faces a coordinated assault, altering legit resort titles to “Completely closed.” Keep vigilant and monitor your GBP! pic.twitter.com/G02Sexbtyd
— Nevena Ivanova (@BeHuTo) August 13, 2024
Discussion board dialogue at X.
