Southwest Florida business owners warn of targeted scam

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—Small business owners are sounding the alarm after several local companies said they got hit by the same fraud scheme this week. 

James Sillett has been in the tree business his whole life. And if he knows one thing, it's that reviews are important, especially in today's digital age. 

"I mean, I look at reviews on anything before I buy a piece of candy, I'll do a review on it," Sillett said. "I'm sorry. That's just the way it is these days, reviews mean everything."

He owns James and Nikki's Tree Service in North Fort Myers. Sillett said he had a gut feeling that something was wrong on Thursday. And he was right. 

He told WINK News that his business was flooded with fake negative reviews on Google. 

"There's eight reviews, one after another. I mean, simultaneously, bam, bam, bam," Sillett said. "Eight bad reviews about dropping trees on people's houses, taking people's money, not being insured. I mean, just some of this stuff don't even make sense. And it not just me."

Sillett said his company is licensed, insured, and accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The company previously had a five-star rating on Google, Sillett said. Now, it's 4.4 stars. 

Sillett shared screenshots of one-star reviews that appear extremely similar. The usernames have poor grammar. One username appears to be Russian.   

Sillett someone called him and asked for money to take down the posts. Instead, he screenshotted the reviews and reported it to Google. 

The same thing happened to Damien Leven, who owns Tree Care of Southwest Florida in Cape Coral.

"We've never had any bad reviews," Leven said. "So it was a little bit heartbreaking."

Leven and Sillett said multiple Southwest Florida tree care businesses got hit with the same scam. Fraudsters asked one owner to pay $300 per post to have the negative comments removed, Leven said. 

Bryan Oglesby is with the Better Business Bureau of West Florida. He identified what happened as the negative review extortion fraud. That is is when overseas fraudsters try to squeeze small business owners. 

"Fraudsters are using that sense of urgency, using that emotional connection that these businesses do not want one star reviews," Oglesby said. "Do not pay. It's a fraud, and they'll come back for more money if you do." 

Oglesby said business owners should gather evidence, including screenshots of scammer messages. Leven shared a screenshot with WINK News that appears to show a fraudster trying to communicate with him. 

"A guy ordered me to post negative reviews on your business and want to get it suspended," a text message reads. 

Leven did not respond. That is the right thing to do, Oglesby said. 

Oglesby said business owners should screenshot users who leave fake reviews and report it to Google. The search engine offers a merchant extortion reporting form. You can also report the scam to the Better Business Bureau through it's Scam Tracker.

Oglesby offered advice to consumers trying to navigate business reviews. 

"Are there details in the review? Who is submitting the review? If it's a name that looks like not a real name of a consumer, click on that profile, see what it says about them," Oglesby said. "Look at reviews on multiple platforms to see what others are saying."

Google removed the posts as of Friday evening, Sillett said. But he's worried the damage has already been done. 

"You know, I'm just waiting to see what happens with it," Sillett said. "So hope for the best. That's all I can do."

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