KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — So you thought it was your lucky day... being invited to review restaurants and be paid for it. The only drawback is... it's a scam.
Malay Mail was alerted to this scam by Bijan Bar & Restaurant (Bijan).
On July 27, Bijan Senior Sales and Marketing Manager Selena Mak received a message from a friend notifying her that she had been invited to join a Google Review group via WhatsApp.
In that group chat, people were asked to do the first task of the day. What was promised once they completed the task was RM15.90.
The message also asked people to search “Bijan Bar & Restaurant” on Google to give it 5 stars.
A link to the Google review site for Bijan was also provided, in which they were requested to leave a positive review.
Mak's friend said people were just submitting reviews to get paid. She asked if Bijan was aware and if it's a scam.
Mak, who was shocked that such messages were circulating, quickly posted a message up in Bijan's social media page, informing people of the scam.
Their statement reads, “We've recently been informed about fraudulent messages asking customers to write a paid Google review for Bijan. Please be advised that these messages are not from us and are unrelated to our restaurant. Your genuine feedback is always valued and appreciated but we never ask for payment or offer incentives for reviews.”
The thing is, this scam is not new as it has appeared as a job offer on online portals.
As reported in March 2023 by The Star, Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf confirmed that a preschool teacher's assistant was scammed out of RM30,483.
She had responded to a message on an online job portal that asked her to write and post reviews of restaurants and other establishments with the promise of a commission paid for each review submitted.
Later she was asked to make several deposits, which she did into four different bank accounts before she realised she had been scammed.
It's not only happening in Malaysia.
In India, there have been many reports of a similar scam. The Times of India reported in January this year that scammers enticed individuals to submit restaurant reviews on Google, and later scammed their money.
On Linkedin, Shekhar Gupta also shared in detail how the paid restaurant review scam worked in India.
Similar to the WhatsApp message above, you will be given tasks and paid once you submit the review. In India, there are what are called recharge tasks, where people need to pay a certain amount of money and you get back the money together with a 50 per cent commission.
These scams not only hurt individuals but also mar a restaurant's reputation, as people think they are offering payment for Google reviews.
“All our Google reviews are from our diners and we don't tamper or delete the reviews at all," said Mak.
She added, “We keep it transparent and we will never pay for Google reviews.”
