Michelin-rated restaurant fights back against online scammers who tried to blackmail it with 'one-star' reviews if they weren't paid

Criminals are threatening to bombard Michelin-starred restaurants with one-star reviews unless they hand over cash in a new scam.

Chef Andy Sheridan, who has appeared on Great British Menu, says he and business partner Sam Morgan's eateries have been targeted by criminals demanding four-figure payments or else they would be hit with fake reviews.

The pair, who run a number of restaurants across England and are preparing to open one in Wales, say they initially ignored the demands until they noticed fake criticisms of their businesses cropping up on Google and TripAdvisor.

Mr Sheridan's top restaurant, the Michelin-starred 8 by Andy Sheridan in Liverpool, was hit by a fake review slating its wine selection and the prices paid for world-class dining - and he suspects the review was retaliation for not paying up.

Others flooded in on Google - targeting not only the duo's Liverpool restaurant but the Bracebridge gastropub in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham - making baseless claims about each business.

One review of 8 in Liverpool read: 'Wine list is very poor and totally overpriced. Our chef Jake was fantastic but...how can anyone warrant 90 pounds for Prosecco.' 

Mr Sheridan and Mr Morgan told BBC News the venue does not serve prosecco and they have never employed a chef named Jake.

Another of the Bracebridge read: 'Disappoints with its lacklustre service and mediocre food quality, ambience was dull and prices did not justify the experience. Not recommended for discerning diners seeking quality dining.'

Mr Morgan decided to take action, trying to find out as much as he could about the fraudsters while also reporting their malicious reviews to tech giants in order to have them removed - with varying degrees of success. 

He told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours: 'This is just classic fraudster tricks. The weapon is fear - ultimately we are a small independent business...we are not a multi-million organisation, we don't have the resources that tackle these things.'

He began to 'play along' with the fraudsters, asking for payment details and even convincing them to share a copy of their passport as proof of their identity, though he suspected the paperwork is fake.

Mr Morgan added: 'How do I know even if we were to pay that sum of money that this is going to stop? 

'The truth is, it's not going to stop, he's going to come back a week later and say 'pay another £2,000 or I am going to post online that you paid me previously' and it's just going to go on.'

After he stopped communicating with the fraudsters, malicious reviews began to appear online - and he was disappointed that it was only after the media got involved that the likes of Google intervened to cull the fake posts.

He told the Telegraph: 'The press has to get involved for them to act and that's a pretty poor situation. And that's just not good enough in today's day and age, when you're a multi-billion pound organisation, making money out of small business. It's just not good enough, and not acceptable.'

The pair have since thanked the public for their support, sharing an image of an AA Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence on 8's Instagram.

'We decided to go public with this issue because we believe it’s not an isolated incident,' they wrote.

'The public places immense trust in online review platforms, and unfortunately, malicious individuals exploit this trust to harm businesses that are vital to our community and local employment.'

A Google spokesperson said: 'Our policies clearly state that reviews must be based on real experiences and information.

'We've looked into this case and are removing the policy-violating content.'

A Tripadvisor spokesperson said: 'This kind of activity contravenes Tripadvisor's guidelines and is illegal in many locations.

'With regards to this incident, while Tripadvisor's standard reporting processes were not initially engaged with by the business, our trust and safety team has been in contact with the owner and the review in question is no longer published to their listing page.

'More broadly our message to business owners is simple. If you are threatened with blackmail – by a customer or anyone else – do not engage directly with that individual.'