Amazon's substantial investment in preventing fake reviews from reaching customers is further evidenced by a recent lawsuit, which further demonstrates its ongoing commitment to combating this issue.
Product reviews are essential to the Amazon shopping experience, offering customers valuable insights and genuine feedback from other shoppers. Recognising these reviews' crucial role in helping consumers make informed purchases, Amazon isn't sparring any effort to maintain its integrity.
Unfortunately, the emergence of fake review brokers compromises customer trust and threatens the success of selling partners. These malicious entities run fraudulent businesses to facilitate publishing fake reviews for financial gain, aiming to deceive customers and provide an unfair advantage to those willing to participate in illegal activities.
A Firm Stance Against Fake Reviews
Amazon takes a strict approach to fake reviews, suspending, banning, or pursuing legal action against those who violate its policies. In 2016, Amazon implemented measures to detect and prevent fake reviews. These included prohibiting customers from leaving reviews in exchange for free products and imposing restrictions on reviews to reduce false feedback.
Advanced technology aids Amazon in monitoring and enforcing its policies to guarantee that only genuine reviews are published. In 2023, Amazon successfully blocked over 250 million suspected fake reviews from its stores globally.
Amazon actively targets individuals who seek to profit from fake reviews. The company initiated its first lawsuit against fake review brokers in 2015 and continues to pursue these fraudsters through legal channels.
In 2023, Amazon pursued legal action against over 150 individuals and entities involved in review abuse across the United States, China, and Europe. In July 2024, Amazon filed its first-ever joint lawsuit against review brokers with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
This lawsuit aims to bring the full force of the law against ReviewServiceUSA.com, an illegitimate business, and permanently stop them from enabling fake reviews that target Amazon's store, the BBB, and other lawful companies and organisations.
"At Amazon, we understand that businesses of all sizes rely on product reviews to attract customers and grow their brand," said Claire O'Donnell, Amazon's director of Selling Partner Trust & Store Integrity.
"In addition to our proactive controls, legal action ensures that we hold these bad actors accountable, stop their illicit schemes at the source, and prevent them from harming customers in Amazon's store and beyond," O'Donnell added.
Legal Action Against Fake Review Brokers
Beyond the joint filing with the BBB, Amazon has initiated numerous lawsuits this year against fake review brokers who attempt to facilitate fake reviews on Amazon's store and other companies.
In Amazon v. AMZ Mastery, filed in May 2024, the defendants sold fake product reviews, fake seller feedback, and other fraudulent content to malicious actors operating Amazon selling accounts across Amazon's global stores.
Defendants also sold fake "Helpful" votes on fake reviews, suggesting that the review was valuable in purchasing decisions. The more "Helpful" votes a review receives, the higher its ranking on a product listing page.
Similarly, a lawsuit against Buyvotesforonlinecontest.com revealed that the defendants sold fake "Helpful" votes and engaged in fraudulent "Down Vote" services. This scheme involved the defendants clicking the "Report" button next to negative reviews on bad actors' product listings to try and get them removed, artificially inflating their overall product ratings.
However, Amazon's expert investigators identified these malicious actors and took appropriate action. In March, Amazon secured a groundbreaking judgment in a case against Auction Sentinel, a fraudulent company facilitating fake seller feedback, resulting in the transfer of its website domain to Amazon.
More recently, Amazon filed lawsuits against Lotstrade and ReviewerAgency, both operated by defendants who helped spread fake reviews and other fraudulent content on Amazon's store.
Lotstrade also functioned as a searchable database where defendants listed bad actors' products and urged reviewers to leave fake reviews while assuring full product refunds in exchange.
Accountability For Fake Review Brokers
Amazon is steadfast in its commitment to preserving the integrity of reviews as a reliable resource for customers. The company remains diligent in holding bad actors accountable through legal channels to eradicate fake reviews at their source and safeguard customers, selling partners, and its platform.
By taking decisive legal action, Amazon clearly conveys that these illicit practices will not be tolerated. Amazon is actively working to prevent review abuse on a global scale through the combination of advanced technology, expert investigators, and ongoing collaboration with industry partners, associations, and law enforcement agencies.
The lawsuits referenced were filed in King County Superior Court. Case numbers are as follows:
- BBB: 24-2-16106-6 SEA
- AMZ Mastery: 24-2-12185-4 SEA
- Buyvotesforonlinecontest.com: 24-2-19168-2 SEA
- Auction Sentinel: 22-2-12548-9 SEA
- Lotstrade: 24-2-22064-0 SEA
- ReviewerAgency: 24-2-22063-1 SEA
Amazon's ongoing legal pursuit of fake review brokers worldwide underscores their deliberate engagement in illegal activities aimed at misleading Amazon customers and harming Amazon's selling partners by enabling fake reviews and other fraudulent content.
Amazon's relentless fight against fake reviews involves a multifaceted approach. The company combines sophisticated machine-learning models with experienced investigators to verify the authenticity of every review on our platform.
Beyond the company's proactive technological measures, legal action has proven to be a powerful tool in dismantling fake review brokers entirely. By targeting the root of the problem, Amazon effectively prevents fake reviews from reaching customers. Through ongoing investments, Amazon successfully blocked over 250 million suspected fake reviews from its store in 2023.
"Customers rely on product reviews to make informed purchase decisions, and these fraudsters need to be held accountable for intentionally deceiving Amazon customers, harming our selling partners, and abusing our store," said O'Donnell.
"We will continue pursuing fake review brokers in order to maintain a trustworthy shopping experience," she added. Amazon secured progress in three lawsuits for review integrity:
1. Amazon v. AmzonReview.com
This lawsuit targeted AmzonReview.com, a website selling fake positive reviews. They exploited compromised Amazon customer accounts to post fake content and even used a separate website to target bad actors selling Kindle products specifically.
2. Amazon v. Dragon-Dealz.com
Dragon-Dealz.com's owners facilitated a platform where bad actors operating Amazon seller accounts could bribe prospective reviewers with product refunds in exchange for fake positive reviews. This scheme targeted bad actors in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the UK.
3. Amazon v. Reviewerschannel.com
Reviewerschannel.com offered product refunds to prospective reviewers in exchange for fake positive product reviews and seller feedback. Their activities spanned the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, UAE, and the UK.
