From relentless calls about extended warranties and emails from Nigerian princes to more recently, “you won an iPhone” text messages and your friend’s hacked account sending you direct messages, scammers are always coming up with new ways to do exactly what they set out to do–scam people. While it’s often thought that many scammers are taking advantage of Americans from outside of the country, the truth of the matter is that there are plenty of con-artists located right here in the US–and local Google users might be their newest target.

According to an article published today by NBC10 Boston, a man from Massechuttes, Alex Polivy, who was looking for a local plumbing service around his area fell victim to a fake Google business profile called Cornerstone Plumbing. While Polivy initially thought he was getting a good deal and fast service, it soon became apparent things weren’t as they seemed.

“When the plumber showed up, Polivy says he cut the main valve off to the water, and water poured everywhere,” NBC10’s article reads in part. It was then that Polivy started to question the legitimacy of the plumber.

After some subsequent investigation by the news station, it appears Polivy’s suspicions were confirmed.

“When NBC10 Boston called Cornerstone Plumbing to ask questions about their location, a man answering the phone said the Sudbury address on their listing was old, that they are moving. He said he would have a manager call back, but no one did. We also called Premium Home Service and were told there was no way to get in touch with a manager before they hung up on us.”

What’s perhaps most worrying is that Polivy’s situation is not an isolated incident.

It was only a couple of years ago when the Journal conducted a study searching for plumbers in New York City. According to The Verge, the findings suggested 13 of the top 20 Google search results listed false addresses, and only two were real businesses that actually adhered to Google guidelines.

Statistically speaking, Google’s business features are one of the most utilized online resources for connecting consumers with companies in their search area. What’s more, most of the platform’s users trust Google to not let illegitimate listings slip through the cracks–and that trust is exactly what scammers are now banking on.

As a result, Google does implement ways to weeding out such listings however, as confirmed by Polivy’s recent incident, it’s clear that the networking giant’s efforts are not always one hundred percent successful.

In fact, I myself conducted an incredibly confusing interview with a teenager who made a business profile for a local nature observatory (that didn’t actually exist) as part of a school project.

Obviously, the teenager’s project was harmless, but it goes to show that if a tenth grader can make a whole business profile on Google, there are plenty of those with ill-intentions who can and will be doing the same.

While it’s unlikely that scammers will ever stop finding ways around the barriers that try to protect us, we should take this opportunity to learn that even when browsing trusted sites such as Google, the only way to truly verify online info is by doing our due diligence such as checking referrals, business name directories and BBB ratings.