S'pore beauty chain hit by chain of dubious 1-star Google reviews after being offered negative review removal service

A local beauty chain has been hit by dubious one-star reviews on Google Maps after they were approached over WhatsApp by a person claiming to be able to help remove negative reviews.

The reviews are mostly one-star ratings and have no comments.

The beauty chain has also been unable to verify the identity of the users who left the reviews against its customer records.

Offer to remove negative reviews

Speaking to Mothership, Melinda Khor, co-founder of Sommar Beauty Spa, shared that they first received a message on Jun. 8 from an individual claiming to be a "Google review removal expert".

In the messages, the individual referred to screenshots of negative reviews left on Sommar Beauty Spa's Google Maps pages and said that the negative reviews can be removed "if you wish".

The reviews that the individual screenshotted were a mix of legitimate and fake ones.

One of the negative reviews sent by the individual was a translation from Indonesian and it read, "Ugly, it has legs."

Khor and her team did not respond.

The number appeared to originate from Pakistan.

One-star reviews with no comments

According to Khor, shortly after receiving the messages, more dubious negative reviews began appearing on the business' Google Maps pages.

Of their three outlets, the listing for its Star Vista branch received the most of such reviews.

Checks by Mothership showed that a number of negative Google Maps reviews for Sommar Beauty Spa's Star Vista branch were made within the past four days.

They were mostly one-star reviews with no comments.

For most of the accounts that left the reviews, the review on Sommar Beauty Spa's business page was the only review they had made on Google Maps.

There have been about 13 to 14 fake reviews so far, according to Khor.

No customer records of users who left one-star reviews

Khor explained that whenever the business receives a negative review, the team "takes it seriously and conducts an internal verification process".

According to her, legitimate reviews typically contain details of the customer’s experience, such as the "service received, the therapist [who attended to them] or the date of visit".

"We are also usually able to match the review to appointment records, customer profiles, treatment notes, payment records, or other identifiable information within our system," she added.

However, for the fake reviews, Khor's team has been unable to verify the individuals behind them, despite reviewing records across the affected branches.

"Many of the reviews also lacked details of any actual customer experience, which raised concerns regarding their authenticity," she commented.

No demand for payment as yet

Khor said that they received WhatsApp messages from the individual again on Jun. 11 and 13, sharing screenshots of negative reviews and offering removal services.

So far, the individual who contacted them has not made a demand for payment.

Khor has also chosen not to engage with the individual so as not to risk further harassment or an increase in the fake negative reviews.

Concerns about impact on business

Khor subsequently escalated the issue to Google by making a Merchant Extortion Report.

After being alerted, Google has since removed two of the suspicious reviews, according to Khor.

The police have also been informed.

Khor said the negative reviews have affected business.

"Online reviews play an important role in helping customers make informed decisions," Khor commented.

"Receiving multiple suspicious one-star reviews across several branches within a short period can unfairly damage a business’s reputation, undermine customer confidence, and create unnecessary concern among both customers and staff."

When asked if she knows of other businesses that have been affected, Khor said she is "aware" of discussions within the business community but is "not in a position to confirm specific cases involving other businesses".

She encourages other affected businesses to come forward to share their experiences with the relevant authorities and platform providers.

Similar cases

In November 2025, MasterChef Asia winner Woo Wai Leong took to Instagram to share that his restaurant, Restaurant Ibid, had been targeted by a similar scam, The Straits Times reported.

Unlike with Sommar Beauty Spa, Woo received an explicit demand for a fee to stop a deluge of bad reviews.

Google has set up a help page that guides business profile owners on reporting and responding to negative review extortion scams.

"Extortion scams are a serious policy violation, and Google is committed to helping protect businesses from these scams," the help page reads.

"These scams may involve a sudden increase in one-star and two-star reviews on your Google Business Profile, followed by someone demanding money, goods, or services in exchange for removing the negative reviews," it continues.