Less than a fortnight after opening its doors, the owners of a buzzy new Vietnamese café and wine bar in Sydney's eastern suburbs have found themselves at the centre of a disturbing online harassment campaign.

Hospitality veterans Cindy Mai and her partner Ed Loveday say they have been left shaken after discovering a fake Google account impersonating Mai had posted dozens of malicious one-star reviews targeting local businesses.

She never posted the reviews - but whoever did in her name clearly intended to make it look as though she was trying to discredit nearby restaurants. 

'A couple of days after opening, we noticed a handful of one-star reviews that didn't sit right. Normally you can place a bad review against a particular service or table. We couldn't place these at all, and the next morning there were more,' the couple told the Daily Mail.

'Several of these even plainly said they had never visited our venue, but were responding to the owner or manager leaving one-star, negative reviews of other businesses in the area.'

When Mai looked into it, she found someone had created a fake Google account in her name, using a photo of her taken from online, and had used it to post reviews of local businesses.

'That is the part that has hurt us most. The thought that anyone might believe Cindy, or Ca Phe Mai, was attacking other local operators is awful,' added the couple.

'It was not her and it was not us. We have nothing but respect for the people running venues around us.'

The owners reported the offending account to Google, which has since removed it along with the retaliatory reviews left for Ca Phe Mai.

'As far as we are concerned, that is the end of it,' they said.

Other figures in the industry doubt this, however.

Hospitality sources say fake reviews and malicious online impersonation are becoming a growing problem in the eastern suburbs, with restaurants on alert in case it happens to them. 

Loveday said this week the couple were blindsided by the cyberattack, which unfolded two weeks after opening their venue.

'You put your heart and soul into opening a business and then something like this happens,' he said.

'We're just trying to do the right thing, look after our customers and be good neighbours. To have someone impersonate Cindy and attack other local businesses in her name is just unbelievable.'

Despite the ordeal, the couple have been overwhelmed by support from neighbours, customers and fellow business owners after sharing their experience publicly.

'What we will take from these two weeks is the community,' they told the Mail.

'The way locals and the wider hospitality industry have rallied around us has been genuinely overwhelming. People have gone out of their way to come in and tell us they are behind us.

'We are grateful, and we are getting back to what we opened to do, which is make good coffee, cook good food, pour good wine and look after the room.'

They launched their 30-seat café and wine bar, Ca Phe Mai, on June 15, quickly attracting rave reviews from diners and a string of glowing write-ups from Sydney's food media.

But as the venue's profile grew, so too did the online attacks. Mai became aware of a Google account using her name trashing local businesses - damaging their reputation and hers.

Fortunately, word has got out that Mai wasn't behind the campaign - and was, in fact, a victim of it. 

'The support we've received has been incredible,' Loveday said. 'It's reminded us why we wanted to open in Double Bay in the first place.'

The incident has sparked an outpouring of support, with customers and fellow business owners rallying behind the couple as they work to have the fraudulent reviews removed. 

The pair are well-seasoned in the industry, with Loveday previously co-running the now-closed Sydney venues ACME and Bar Brose, while Mai owned and operated Strathfield restaurant VN City for the past six years.

Among those rallying behind the couple was Josephine Perry, daughter of esteemed chef Neil Perry, who owns and operates restaurants in Double Bay.

'This is insane! I'm so sorry to hear this, guys. This isn't the Double Bay spirit at all. Can't wait to come in, Dad said it was awesome! X,' she wrote.

Fashion entrepreneur and tastemaker Alyce Tran also commented: 'OMG your café is great and I'm excited to put it into regular rotation.'