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by MichaelZuo 388 days ago
So then how can the scam work after the german restaurant gets the unique postcard?
2 comments

It certainly sounds like they would be sending it to the address provided by the scammer. The issue is their system assumes the first person to interact with it is trustworthy: gives a real phone number and address. If that first contact with Google was MITM'd, they seem to have no way to develop an un-compromised relationship with the real entity.
In Germany, everybody and their siblings usually ask for a recent copy of the trade certificate of registration--it actually is quite annoying. Google could do the same.
I don't think it does. The postcard should go to the place where the customers go, so for a restaurant its the place with the tables and the food and stuff.

If the address is different than the address of the shop-owner, then how would a user who uses google maps get to the shop? And why wouldn't the shop owner just create a new, correct listing?