What To Do About These eMail SPAM “Request Ownership Of My GMB Account”

Business Owners, are you getting eMails like this one below from Google showing that someone is trying to claim your Google My Business account? Here’s what’s going on…

These emails are the worst, and they keep coming and coming.

There’s got to be something we can do to stop them, right?

As the legitimate owner of KC Web Specialists, I typically get 1 to 2 emails a day from Google, where someone is requesting ownership of my company’s Google My Business (GMB) listing. (see picture above)

But make no mistake about it, these are spam bots attempting to gain ownership of my GMB account. Ultimately, either to hold it ransom, or if my Google accounts are interconnected, they could get access to my Credit Card information because I’m doing Google Ads, and some other Google applications that have my credit card data.

So what do I do about this problem? 

You have two options when you get these spam emails.  Neither is the right/best option, but you have to pick one.  

Option 1 – Delete the emails and move on.

Option 2 – Since the email is actually coming from Google, it’s OK to click the review request button, and then click Reject the request.

Both of the options above have problems.   

The problems with choosing Option 1

Delete it, and you’ll get it tomorrow, and the next day and the next day and so on and so on. It’s coming from Google so you can’t just put that eMail address in your junk folder.   You can write a “rule” to move eMails with parts of this subject line directly to your deleted mail folder, then you wouldn’t have to delete it once a day. Just be careful that your “rule” doesn’t block the actual eMail address google-my-business-noreply@google.com because that is a legitimate eMail address coming from Google, and you’ll on occasion get other legitimate eMails from Google that you’d want to see.   

Another problem with option 1.  Google in their online help documentation provides for other ways for people to take over a GMB account in the event that the automated option is never responded to.   So if you just keep deleting and deleting the eMails, eventually the person making the request can try, through post mail, try to get access to the account.   Make sure your GMB account has your correct mailing address associated with it, so any post cards coming in the mail with the access code come to your correct mail address. 

TURN ON 2-STEP AUTHENTICATION WITH YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. Don’t make it easier for folks to get into your Google account. 

Did I mention how much I hate spammers 🙁

The problems with choosing Option 2

So option two is you actually click the button in the email that says “Review Request”.  It’s fine to do this because the email is coming from Google.   You click the Review Request button and then click the option that says “Reject Request”.    Seems simple enough, BUT, at that point, you’ve just sent a signal back to the requesting email address saying, Look at me, I’m an actual live person looking at these requests.    Once you reject the request, more than likely, you’ll actually start getting more access requests from different email addresses each day.   Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Really hate spammer. 

Also, once you review and reject the request, Google splashes up a screen that says, “Even though you’ve rejected this request, it is still possible for someone else to gain access to your GMB account.”

Wait! What????

I’ve reviewed and rejected the request, and Google’s telling me they “Could” still get access to my account. 

Wait! What????

This is Google doing its CYA legal mumbo jumbo. They have to leave themselves a way out if there’s a legal battle for a GMB account, and Google’s forced to transfer ownership to someone else.   Why couldn’t they just add that fact to their screen instead of causing us the panic of still losing our account even though we rejected the ownership request?   Thanks, Google, for that!!!

TURN ON 2-STEP AUTHENTICATION WITH YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. Don’t make it easier for folks to get into your Google account. 

Anyway, this is becoming a major annoyance problem for all of out here who own business listings on Google.

Google does recognize our annoyance with this issue, but as of late August 2021, it continues to fail to address it. 

Google’s attitude is that, as the legitimate owner of the GMB business listing, you have control over who has ownership. So to Google, it’s not really a problem that we’re all getting these fake ownership attempts.   

To fix this, Google would have to put in manual checks for validating the ownership of every GMB account transfer request.  It would be too costly for them to switch away from the current automated verification process.

So, for those getting these ownership request emails, I hope this post helps you understand the issue, even though there’s not much you can do about it. 

TURN ON 2-STEP AUTHENTICATION WITH YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. Don’t make it easier for folks to get into your Google account. 

KC Web Specialists and our IT partners are always glad to be there to help you sort out web-related issues. Please contact us today at info@kcwebspecialists.com if you have questions.

(913) 489-7866 or info@kcwebspecialists.com

KC Web Specialists are your Kansas City experts in Web Design, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, and are WordPress Web Designer pros.

KC WEB SPECIALISTS

(913) 489-7866, ext. 101

5876 Edgewater Drive

Overland Park, Kansas