Tattoo removal business owners discover customers’ ink easier to erase than scammers’ damaging online reviews By: Scott Billeck Posted: 6:03 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

The owners of two Winnipeg tattoo removal outlets say scammers are trying to extort them by posting negative Google reviews, then demanding payment to take them down.

Jennilee Martineau, owner of Ex Inked Laser Tattoo Removal, said the first one-star review appeared on her Google Business profile last Thursday.

“It was kind of upsetting, and I responded to the review,” she said. “I couldn’t find any missed calls or anything.”

The review, which she later found posted verbatim on other Winnipeg tattoo removal shops’ Google pages, claimed the person who answered the phone was rude and that no one was at the shop when the customer arrived. It also referenced another tattoo removal business that does not exist.

“I responded to it. I thought it was a person,” Martineau said. “So I was just like, ‘I don’t have any history of you calling and I haven’t spoken to you, give me a call or whatever.’ And then I got another one the next day, same word for word, copy-paste, same review, but a different person posting it.”

Another identical review appeared under a different name last Friday.

Since then, she said she has received several similar reviews.

On Monday morning, Martineau said she received a WhatsApp message from a number in Pakistan saying the negative reviews could disappear, for a fee.

“That made me think that there’s something not right about this,” she said, adding that she filed a police report on it.

Winnipeg police said they were looking into it on Tuesday but did not provide any further details.

After posting about the situation on social media, Martineau said she was contacted by a Winnipeg tattoo parlour that had noticed the same review copied word for word on the page of another local tattoo removal business.

“That made me think that there’s something not right about this.”

Chris Woywada, owner of Bionic Tattoo Removal, said he has experienced the same pattern.

The reviews made little sense to him: he’s the only employee, and he personally answers business calls.

Google agreed to remove three of the reviews, but some remain. He also was contacted by a number in Pakistan through WhatsApp.

“To have (the bad reviews) sitting on there and not being removed, it’s just a negative mark for no reason,” he said.

Frustrated, he cancelled approximately $400 a month in Google advertising.

“I cancelled it because they won’t remove (all of the fake reviews),” he said. “I’m like, ‘Why am I giving you money if you’re not taking care of your customer?’ I realize I’m just small… it’s like pennies to them. But I can make my stand in some way.”

“To have (the bad reviews) sitting on there and not being removed, it’s just a negative mark for no reason.”

Martineau, who has been in business for a year and a half, said trying to get the reviews taken down has felt like a second job.

“I’d say I get about 80 per cent of my business from Google Maps,” she said.

“People go and search Google for where to go to get a tattoo removed, and then they get a bunch of different businesses on Google Maps. And if you fall below a certain rating on Google, you stop getting promoted on Google at all. People stop seeing you, or they might not realize the review is a spam review, and fake, and they might go elsewhere.”

She said her initial report to Google was denied because the review was found not to violate policy. She briefly considered deleting her business profile, but learned that even permanently closed businesses remain visible on Google.

In an email Tuesday, a Google representative said the company was looking into the incidents.

They said the platform does not “tolerate scams on Google Maps and take a range of actions against them, including content removal and account suspensions,” and that their “advanced AI and expert analysts work around the clock to monitor for suspicious activity and remove policy-violating content.”

“We’re continuously evolving our practices to help keep information on Maps reliable, and merchants can also report content to us for review,” the company said, adding that users are encouraged to report any suspicious activity.

Martineau said her five-star rating had fallen to 4.8, and she has heard that if the rating falls below 4.5, Google stops promoting a business’s listing.

She’s had some success with Google taking down some, but not all, of the reviews.

Woywada, who has been in the tattoo-removal business for almost 15 years, is less concerned, having built up a clientele. But he understands how it could be worrisome for businesses that haven’t been around as long.

“On one of my questionnaires, when I ask a new client how they heard about Bionic, about 80 to 90 per cent say Google,” he said. “I’ve been in business for more than 14 years, so it’s not as stressful, but it still sucks.

“It’s hard to get a foot in this industry,” he said.

“Everyone’s looking at reviews before booking appointments.”

The reviews, before he was able to get some of them removed, brought his five-star rating down to a 4.6. It has since returned to 4.9.

“It still affects a business,” he said. “Everyone’s looking at reviews before booking appointments.”

Alex Steigerwald, a criminal defence lawyer who specialises in internet and online-related offences, said he hasn’t heard of such a case, and said it would likely be very difficult for police to go after the perpetrators.

“It’s a significant problem for any business owner who advertises online,” Steigerwald said.

“The offenders are often extorting Canadians from another country, so what can local police actually do about it? And even beyond our local police agencies, the RCMP may not have the ability to help individual business owners, and likely have to focus their resources on criminal organizations and more violent extortions when an international element is involved.

“Outside of hiring your own online expert who can try and help, or making an appeal directly to Google, which can be quite difficult, there’s very few remedies for this type of crime.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca