After fraudsters hacked her ad account, Ontario business owner says she had to fight Google

A London, Ont., business owner says Google is hurting her bottom line by refusing to fully refund charges that stem from a hacking attack on a third-party business she was working with to create online ads.

Sarah Martin opened her Osteopathy on Wellington clinic last November and hired Fiverr  — an online platform that connects businesses with freelancers — to find a company that could set her up with a Google ad for her new business. 

Fiverr arranged Digital Bee1 to do the work. 

It cost Martin $175 to create the Google ad. Initially, she was happy with the results after it went live in January. 

“I got a ton of new business off of it,” she said. “Things were going really well.” 

Charges for video she didn’t post

Her monthly credit card charges from Google varied based on the amount of clicks the ad generated. She said it was typically in the $450 range. 

In July, Martin’s credit card company alerted her about $700 in charges that it had flagged as likely fraudulent.

Martin said she confirmed to her credit card company that the charges were not legitimate and they were immediately reversed. However, Google responded by suspending her advertising account, which prevents her ad from coming up in online searches. 

“It essentially means my business is invisible,” she said.

So how did she wind up with the extra charges on her account? 

Martin said a video that touted special glasses designed to reduce the glare from computer screens was uploaded to her Google account by the hackers. That video received more than 8,000 page views in two days, and that showed up as referral charges on Martin’s Google account. The charges amounted to $3,400, including the $700 that the credit card company had flagged.

“I did not upload any video to my account,” said Martin.

She said it wouldn’t make sense for her to post the video to her Google ad account anyway because it’s not at all related to her osteopathy clinic and it was only viewable for U.S.-based users.

Search for answers

To sort out what happened and how she could get her account active again, Martin reached out to Fivrr, Google and DigitalBee1. She shared that correspondence with CBC News. 

In an email to Martin when the trouble began on July 4, a Digital Bee1 representative said their Google ad account “has encountered a technical issue,” which then allowed fraudsters access to Martin’s account. 

Fiverr told Martin that it couldn’t help.

“Since the issue you described occurred outside of Fiverr’s platform, we unfortunately cannot issue a refund for the Google ads charges,” reads an email sent to Martin. “Fiverr can only address matters directly tied to orders placed and processed through our system.” 

In another email, a Fiverr representative told Martin to “please bear in mind that freelancers on Fiverr are independent, and we don’t monitor their activity outside of Fiverr.” 

The representative suggested Martin take up the issue with Google. 

Digital Bee1 and Fiverr did not respond to requests for comment from CBC News.

“There are other alternatives for smaller business to consider other than just Google ads.– Zhe Zhang, Ivey Business school assistant professor

Martin said that when the fraudulent charges first appeared, Google told her by email that it would launch an investigation. Since then, she would check in every few days and be told more time was needed. She sent more than 20 emails to Google over the summer, but said there was no progress on getting the charges removed and her account reactivated.

Martin said it was difficult to get a Google representative on the phone. 

CBC News reached out to Google for comment on Monday. Later that day, Google said in a statement that its team “reviewed this case in detail and the account has been reinstated.” 

Speaking to CBC News on Tuesday, Martin said that while her account is no longer suspended, Google has refused to remove most of the charges on her bill related to the video posted by the hacker. Google agreed to reimburse only $132, leaving her with more than $3,000 in charges related to the video she didn’t upload. 

Martin told CBC News her account still shows more than $3,000 in charges and her ad won’t work until those arrears are paid.

“Google is saying I still owe them money,” said Martin. 

A second statement from Google sent to CBC News on Tuesday said, “We reviewed this case in detail and the account has been reinstated and a refund for any fraudulent spend will be issued.”

However, Google didn’t specify the exact amount they were planning to refund. 

“The team is providing a refund for any fraudulent spend,” reads and email from a Google spokesperson. “It may take a little bit of time.”

Martin said Google’s rules prohibit the creation of second accounts. 

Challenges for small businesses

Zhe Zhang, an assistant professor at Ivey Business School, said it can be a challenge for small businesses to vet freelancers and other contractors.  

“It’s essentially the business owner’s own choice, so they need to be responsible for each situation,” he said. “It happens to the big brands as well.” 

Zhang also said businesses need to “diversify their marketing efforts” so they’re not relying too much on any method to connect with customers. 

“There are other alternatives for smaller business to consider other than just Google ads.”