Scammers are gaming Google Maps by uploading AI-generated photos that contain phone numbers, redirecting calls away from the businesses a searcher is actually looking at. The fake photos appear prominently on legitimate Google Business Profiles, making them look like a cover image or profile picture, and reports to Google have so far failed to remove them.
The technique itself has been around for a while, but it appears to be scaling up. A Google Maps contributor tied to the campaign had uploaded more than 150 photos to unrelated businesses across the United States, with the same incorrect number appearing on image after image. The pattern points to systematic spam designed to hijack phone calls.
How the scam works on Google Business Profiles
Anyone can sign up as a Google Maps contributor and upload photos tied to a business listing. Scammers are abusing that door by uploading AI-generated images that include a phone number in the picture itself. When the image lands at or near the top of the photo section, a searcher who taps to call the business may call the number in the photo instead of the real number on the listing.
One case that surfaced involved a roofing company whose Google Business Profile was hit with an AI-generated image using the business name but with a foreign phone number attached. The business owner added more photos, including a logo and a cover image, trying to bury the fake, and none of those uploads replaced the planted image.
The scale of the photo spam
The contributor account at the center of the report had more than 150 photo contributions spread across unrelated businesses in the US, and the same incorrect phone number kept appearing in those images. Because every photo carries the same number, Google could in theory run its own pattern detection across contributor uploads and pull the photos in bulk. As of the original report, that cleanup had not happened quickly enough, and the operation appeared to be banking on slow moderation.
What happens when you report the fake photo
Reporting the image through the standard channel produced a generic response from Google support that did not match the photo name issue. Escalation through support channels did not lead to a fast removal. The affected business owner tried a second tactic, layering on more legitimate photos and a cover image, hoping the algorithm would surface those instead of the planted one. It did not.
What changed after the report went public
A day after the issue was posted publicly, Google removed the offending photos and pulled the contributor account that was uploading them. That short turnaround suggests the public report moved faster than the in-product reporting flow, which is worth keeping in mind for any business owner dealing with a similar planted image: documentation and visibility into paid or on-platform complaints tend to move faster than a quiet ticket.
What a business owner can do right now
- Check your own Google Business Profile photos and confirm the top images are ones you uploaded.
- Look at any contributor photo that includes a phone number, address, or branding and treat it as suspect until verified.
- Report the photo in-product, then escalate through Google Business Profile support with screenshots and the contributor profile link.
- Publish your own fresh photos, including a clear cover image and logo, so a legitimate set sits on the listing.
- Keep a record of the report in case the issue needs to be raised again.
Because the planted image carries a phone number inside the picture file rather than in the listing’s structured fields, the standard spam flag on a Google Business Profile does not catch it on its own. Pairing the photo report with a wider audit of how your business shows up to AI engines and search is the safer move. A national directory scan, like the one BizScoreAI runs, can show what your listing actually looks like to the systems people ask, and flag any third-party photos or numbers attached to it.
FAQ
What is the Google Maps photo phone number scam?
Scammers use the Google Maps contributor program to upload AI-generated photos that contain a phone number inside the image. The photo appears on a real Google Business Profile, often at or near the top of the photo section, so a searcher who calls the business ends up calling the scammer’s number instead.
How many businesses were affected?
One account tied to the campaign had more than 150 photo contributions across unrelated businesses in the United States, and the same incorrect phone number appeared in images on multiple listings.
What happened after the issue was reported?
In-product reports and Google Business Profile support did not remove the photos quickly. A day after the issue was posted publicly, Google removed the offending images and pulled the contributor account that was uploading them.
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