Robocalls Posing as Google Are Flooding Small Businesses With Spam, and the FCC Is Being Swamped With Complaints

In the first two weeks of August 2025, the FCC has been hit with a wave of complaints from angry consumers and business owners over relentless robocalls pretending to be from Google, or “partners” of Google, peddling deceptive claims about business listings. These spam calls, often aggressive and threatening, are now among the top drivers of tech-related FCC grievances nationwide.

Small businesses hit the hardest

The complaints come from a familiar demographic: solo entrepreneurs, small business owners, freelancers, and local service providers who depend on search visibility to survive. In California alone, over 600 unwanted call complaints were filed in just 14 days. Florida and Texas followed closely, each contributing hundreds more.

What makes these calls particularly egregious is that they often target the same business number multiple times per day, sometimes before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., violating federal call time restrictions.

Most of the callers don’t identify a real company name. Instead, they open with a recording like:

“Your Google Business listing may be flagged for removal. Press 1 to verify your business now.”

Once a user presses a key, they’re transferred to a live agent, often using vague or misleading language to pressure them into paying a fee to “secure” or “enhance” their Google listing.

It’s not Google. But it sounds like it.

Google has stated repeatedly, and publicly, that it does not make unsolicited phone calls to verify or promote Google Business Profiles. Yet the illusion of authority remains powerful, particularly when the message suggests dire consequences like losing your search visibility.

Most complaints reviewed by the FCC point to scammy lead generation firms using robocall systems to blast out millions of calls daily. Many employ spoofed caller IDs, often displaying fake local numbers or names like “Google Listings Services,” “Business Verification,” or even “GGL Support.”

Worse still, victims report that even after asking to be removed or opting out, the calls continue. In fact, some say the frequency increases once they’ve interacted.

Why enforcement is so difficult

Here’s the problem: these scammers are slippery.

They constantly rotate phone numbers and caller IDs. Many operate offshore. Even when the FCC or FTC fines a known operator, as they have in past years for similar scams, new groups pop up using the same scripts and tech.

Between August 1 and August 14, the FCC logged over 5,500 unwanted call complaints. Of those, more than 2,000 involved prerecorded robocalls. “Google Listings”-style scams were one of the most frequently named call types.

Even with efforts to trace call origins, enforcement often hits a wall due to the ease of spoofing and lack of international jurisdiction.

What you can do to fight back

While regulators work to crack down on these operations, consumers and business owners aren’t helpless. Here’s a quick action plan:

• Hang up immediately. Don’t press any keys, don’t speak, and don’t confirm any details. Interaction confirms your number is live.
• Report the call to the FCC. Go to consumercomplaints.fcc.gov and include the time, date, number displayed on caller ID, and a brief summary.
• Use call blocking tools. Most carriers now offer spam-blocking features. Third-party apps like Hiya, Nomorobo, and Google’s Phone app offer additional protection.
• Register your number. Add your business or personal number to the National Do Not Call Registry. While not a perfect shield, it adds enforcement weight for repeated violators.
• Train your team. Make sure employees know that these calls are scams and understand how to handle them, log, ignore, and report.
• Claim and manage your Google listing directly. If you’re genuinely concerned about your online presence, log into Google Business Profile Manager yourself. It’s free and bypasses the middlemen.

A pattern that won’t quit

This isn’t the first time the “Google listing” robocall scam has surged, and it likely won’t be the last. What’s different now is the volume, the technological sophistication, and the reach. With AI tools now being leveraged to create more convincing voices and scripts, scammers are only getting better at sounding official.

As these robocalls continue to plague mobile and VOIP lines, the FCC urges consumers to file detailed reports. Every data point helps build the case for enforcement actions.

In the meantime, vigilance is key. If it smells like a scam and sounds like a Google robocall, it almost certainly is.

Name-and-shame opportunity

Some advocates are calling for more transparency from carriers. If phone companies would publish or block caller IDs that repeatedly show up in complaints, scam operations could be throttled faster. Until then, journalists, watchdogs, and users are naming and shaming the most common robocall numbers, an effort that’s started gaining traction on social media.

If you’ve received a call about your “Google listing” in the past few weeks, you’re not alone. Screenshot the number. Report it. Share your story. And above all, don’t press 1.