--- description: Extortion is a demand for money to change or remove a review. A real service failure is a different case. SyncMyReviews does not remove Google reviews, and it does not pay the person demanding money. title: Google Fake Negative Reviews and Extortion | SyncMyReviews Blog image: https://res.cloudinary.com/de3yzjwhk/image/upload/v1774523070/seo/og_image.jpg --- # Google Fake Negative Reviews and Extortion Published: 2025-11-03 • 5 min read ![Google Fake Negative Reviews and Extortion](https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1762189452/SyncMyReviews/site/Google_Fake_Negative_Reviews_and_Extortion.svg) * [Extortion: do not pay](#extortion) * [A real complaint](#real-complaint) ## Extortion: do not pay Extortion is a stranger, or a customer who never bought the service they describe, demanding payment, a gift card, or a hiring decision in exchange for editing or deleting a Google review. Do not pay. Do not negotiate the price in the public reply. Report the review under Google's prohibited-content policy and keep the messages that asked for money. The public reply, if you post one at all, states that you have no record of the visit and that you have reported the review. It does not offer a refund to make the review disappear, and it does not argue the dollar amount they asked for. SyncMyReviews does not remove Google reviews. Connecting a profile syncs what Google already published. There is no delete button in the dashboard for a review that lives on Google. ## A real complaint A customer who had the work done and describes what went wrong is not extortion, even when the review is harsh. That review gets an answer. Mixing the two cases is how a shop either pays a scam or ignores a job it actually did. [How we reply when the complaint is real](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/how-to-respond-to-a-bad-review) ## Related Posts --- [How we reply when the complaint is real](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/how-to-respond-to-a-bad-review) ![PODCAST: Why Your Business Needs Bad Reviews](https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1771923061/SyncMyReviews/site/you%20need%20a%20bad%20reviews.svg) ##### [PODCAST: Why Your Business Needs Bad Reviews](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/podcast-episode-bad-reviews-required) Feb 24, 2026 ![PODCAST: Why 5-Star Ratings Are A Trap](https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1770669956/podcast-perfect-5.svg) ##### [PODCAST: Why 5-Star Ratings Are A Trap](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/podcast-episode-perfect-5) Feb 09, 2026 ![Why a Perfect 5-Star Rating Is Your Brand’s Biggest Red Flag](https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1770632306/video/Gemini_Generated_Image_3q1ztz3q1ztz3q1z_ddxscp.png) ##### [Why a Perfect 5-Star Rating Is Your Brand’s Biggest Red Flag](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/science-of-digital-trust-why-5-star-reviews-fail) Feb 09, 2026 ![Beyond the Widget](https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1770586768/SyncMyReviews/site/Beyond_the_Widget.svg) ##### [Beyond the Widget](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/blog/offline-marketing-reviews) Feb 08, 2026 ## Language * ![](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/assets/us.png)English * ![](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/assets/fr.png)French * ![](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/assets/de.png)German * ![](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/assets/nl.png)Dutch * ![](https://www.syncmyreviews.com/assets/es.png)Spanish --- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/syncmyreviews) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@id": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com/#organization", "@type": "Organization", "name": "SyncMyReviews", "url": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com", "logo": "https://res.cloudinary.com/lkrs/image/upload/v1760611787/SyncMyReviews/global/syncmyreviews-logo.jpg", "description": "SyncMyReviews helps businesses collect, manage, and display customer reviews to enhance credibility and trust.", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/SyncMyReviews", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/syncmyreviews", "https://www.facebook.com/syncmyreviews" ] } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@id": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com/#website", "@type": "WebSite", "name": "SyncMyReviews", "url": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com/#organization" } }, { "@id": "https://www.syncmyreviews.com/#software", "@type": "SoftwareApplication", "name": "SyncMyReviews", "description": "Platform that automatically syncs, manages, and displays customer reviews from Google Business Profile and Facebook Pages on your website in real time for SEO and trust building.", "applicationCategory": "BusinessApplication", "operatingSystem": "Web", "slogan": "Every review. 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