Security Blog
The latest news and insights from Google on security and safety on the Internet
New Research: Keeping fake listings off Google Maps
2017年4月6日
Posted by Doug Grundman, Maps Anti-Abuse, and Kurt Thomas, Security & Anti-Abuse Research
Google My Business
enables millions of business owners to create listings and share information about their business on Google Maps and Search, making sure everything is up-to-date and accurate for their customers. Unfortunately, some actors attempt to abuse this service to register fake listings in order to defraud legitimate business owners, or to
charge exorbitant service fees for services
.
Over a year ago, we teamed up with the University of California, San Diego to research the actors behind fake listings, in order to improve our products and keep our users safe. The full report,
“Pinning Down Abuse on Google Maps”
, will be presented tomorrow at the 2017
International World Wide Web Conference
.
Our study shows that fewer than 0.5% of local searches lead to fake listings. We’ve also improved how we verify new businesses, which has reduced the number of fake listings by 70% from its all-time peak back in June 2015.
What is a fake listing?
For over a year, we tracked the bad actors behind fake listings. Unlike email-based scams
selling knock-off products online
, local listing scams require physical proximity to potential victims. This fundamentally changes both the scale and types of abuse possible.
Bad actors posing as locksmiths, plumbers, electricians, and other contractors were the most common source of abuse—roughly 2 out of 5 fake listings. The actors operating these fake listings would cycle through non-existent postal addresses and disposable VoIP phone numbers even as their listings were discovered and disabled. The purported addresses for these businesses were irrelevant as the contractors would travel directly to potential victims.
Another 1 in 10 fake listings belonged to real businesses that bad actors had improperly claimed ownership over, such as hotels and restaurants. While making a reservation or ordering a meal was indistinguishable from the real thing, behind the scenes, the bad actors would deceive the actual business into paying referral fees for organic interest.
How does Google My Business verify information?
Google My Business currently verifies the information provided by business owners before making it available to users. For freshly created listings, we physically mail a postcard to the new listings’ address to ensure the location really exists. For businesses changing owners, we make an automated call to the listing’s phone number to verify the change.
Unfortunately, our research showed that these processes can be abused to get fake listings on Google Maps. Fake contractors would request hundreds of postcard verifications to non-existent suites at a single address, such as 123 Main St #456 and 123 Main St #789, or to stores that provided PO boxes. Alternatively, a phishing attack could maliciously repurpose freshly verified business listings by tricking the legitimate owner into sharing verification information sent either by phone or postcard.
Keeping deceptive businesses out — by the numbers
Leveraging our study’s findings, we’ve made significant changes to how we verify addresses and are even
piloting an advanced verification process
for locksmiths and plumbers. Improvements we’ve made include prohibiting bulk registrations at most addresses, preventing businesses from relocating impossibly far from their original address without additional verification, and detecting and ignoring intentionally mangled text in address fields designed to confuse our algorithms. We have also adapted our anti-spam machine learning systems to detect data discrepancies common to fake or deceptive listings.
Combined, here’s how these defenses stack up:
We detect and disable 85% of fake listings before they even appear on Google Maps.
We’ve reduced the number of abusive listings by 70% from its peak back in June 2015.
We’ve also reduced the number of impressions to abusive listings by 70%.
As we’ve shown, verifying local information comes with a number of unique anti-abuse challenges. While fake listings may slip through our defenses from time to time, we are constantly improving our systems to better serve both users and business owners.
0 件のコメント :
コメントを投稿
ラベル
#sharethemicincyber
#supplychain #security #opensource
android
android security
android tr
app security
big data
biometrics
blackhat
C++
chrome
chrome enterprise
chrome security
connected devices
CTF
diversity
encryption
federated learning
fuzzing
Gboard
google play
google play protect
hacking
interoperability
iot security
kubernetes
linux kernel
memory safety
Open Source
pha family highlights
pixel
privacy
private compute core
Rowhammer
rust
Security
security rewards program
sigstore
spyware
supply chain
targeted spyware
tensor
Titan M2
VDP
vulnerabilities
workshop
Archive
2024
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2023
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2022
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2021
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2020
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2019
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2018
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2017
12月
11月
10月
9月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2016
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2015
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2014
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2013
12月
11月
10月
8月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2012
12月
9月
8月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
1月
2011
12月
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
6月
5月
4月
3月
2月
2010
11月
10月
9月
8月
7月
5月
4月
3月
2009
11月
10月
8月
7月
6月
3月
2008
12月
11月
10月
8月
7月
5月
2月
2007
11月
10月
9月
7月
6月
5月
Feed
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
0 件のコメント :
コメントを投稿