Alert: Scammers are aiming to take over Google Business Profiles of apartments
We are seeing a rise in phishing attacks on apartment communities’ verified Google Business Profiles (GBP).
What is a phishing attack? A phishing attack is sending fraudulent information from what appears to be a reputable source intending to steal critical data.
The latest uptick is concerning—enough to share it on our blog to alert multifamily marketers and ensure they oversee one of their most critical lead channels.
Keep reading to get answers to these critical questions:
- How are scammers trying to take over Google Business Profiles for apartments?
- What happens if someone hacks into my apartment community’s Google Business Profile?
- How can I ensure my apartment’s Google Business Profile is secure?
How are scammers trying to take over Google Business Profiles for apartments?
Under normal circumstances, an ownership request is a routine procedure. Say you just hired a new marketing manager and need to add them to your apartment’s GBP account, or you’re working with a new marketing vendor who needs ownership access to the GBP account.
When someone requests ownership access to a Business Profile account, Google will send an email to the current GBP account owner(s), giving responsibility for approving or denying the request. In these cases, you would recognize the email addresses of the new employee or vendor and grant access.
What’s abnormal is what occurred to some of our clients’ accounts one Saturday morning this past September.
We suddenly got 15 separate ownership requests for our clients’ verified Google Business Profiles—far more than anything we would expect. When following up with our clients to ask if anyone at their companies truly needed ownership access, each said no, unsurprisingly.
Not only was the amount of requests suspicious, but so was the timing.
The hackers purposefully sent ownership requests on a Saturday to catch people off-guard. If an ownership request isn’t responded to after 3 days, Google gives the option to the requestor to claim the profile themselves, so the hackers were hoping that someone on the apartment community’s side would miss their request on Monday.
What happens if someone hacks into my apartment community’s Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile is an essential source for multifamily marketers because of its significant presence in search results and Google Maps. It displays highly relevant information such as a community’s physical address, phone number, website link, customer reviews, photos, videos, and other details prospective residents seek.
If a hacker were to successfully gain access to your apartment community’s GPB account, the fallout could easily include a decline in leasing performance.
They could modify your apartment community’s information and redirect the links for your website, phone number, or email to malicious parties that put you and, worse, your unsuspecting prospective residents at significant risk.
The other main issue is that hackers who gain access to a Google Business Profile can deny future access requests—even if you were to attempt to reclaim your account.
A removal of the Google Business Profile is also likely in either case.
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How can I ensure my apartment’s Google Business Profile is secure?
While it’s always a best practice to keep your apartment communities’ digital data secure, the key to prevention, particularly your Google Business Profile account because it’s an essential marketing source, is designating someone on your team to own it.
This person should handle all ownership requests, respond to reviews, and continually update your Google Business Profile so prospective residents get the most accurate and up-to-date information about your apartment community and its offerings.
It should be the type of role/duty that, if scammers send an ownership request maliciously on a Saturday morning when you’re not around, the issue is discovered and addressed before it’s auto-approved.
Summary
- Scammers are increasingly targeting verified Google Business Profiles of apartment communities through phishing attacks.
- Phishing attacks involve fraudulent ownership requests sent to Google Business Profile accounts, posing a significant security threat.
- To ensure the security of an apartment community’s Google Business Profile, designating a responsible team member to manage ownership requests and monitor profile updates is crucial.
Source: RentVision
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