Scammers attempt to extort Sydney removalist with sudden flurry of negative reviews

The owner of a Sydney removalist business has been targeted by scammers who tanked her online reviews and tried to extort money.

The owner of a Sydney removalist business has been targeted by scammers who tanked her online reviews in a bid to extort money from her.

A sudden flurry of negative reviews came as a shock for Move It With Gina owner and single mother-of-six Gina.

"I started it 11 years ago, packing and cleaning," she said.

READ MORE: Cops called in as petrol price plunges to unbelievable low

The negative reviews came as a shock for owner and single mum-of-six Gina.

"All my clients wanted a removalist so I ended up buying a truck.

"Four days ago we got one-star reviews in consecutive orders within every half an hour.

"When we had a look at the reviews and who they're from, we were like, 'we haven't serviced these people'."

READ MORE: Tributes grow as Alice Springs mourns five-year-old girl

Gina started getting suspicious text messages.

Then Gina started getting suspicious text messages.

"I have received A order for posting thirty bad rewiews (sic) on your business. Now he is ignoring My message please pay my loss. 60$. Otherwise I'm going to More One Star review," one of the messages said.

Gina said she ignored the messages.

Cybersecurity expert Simon Smith said there were a few tell-tale signs of a fake review.

It could include generic language and a succession of negative reviews in a short period of time.

"The most important thing is to never pay the extortion," Smith said.

For Gina, it took days for the reviews to be taken down.

9News attempted to get a response from the scammer on their number based overseas but they have since gone quiet.

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.

More from Latest News

LISTEN LIVE

SCHEDULE

  • Rock That Never Stops!

    Midnight - 7:55am

  • Smooth Rock Saturday is Coming Up Next!

    7:55am - 8:00am

ON-DEMAND

NETFM CHAT ROOM