UK consumer group Which? has warned against paid-for fake reviews infiltrating major platforms such as Facebook, Google and Trustpilot.
As part of an investigation, Which? found that it was easily able to use a fake reviews broker to supply numerous inauthentic positive reviews for a fictional business on all three platforms.
Which? said it was told by one broker that it had created nearly 16,000 reviews for more than 550 customers around the world.
‘Facebook, Google and Trustpilot are failing to do enough to shut out a fake reviews industry that has been thriving and profiting from misleading reviews for years now,’ said Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy.
‘Facebook in particular has repeatedly been slow to act in tackling fake reviews, showing a complete disregard for consumers who want to read genuine reviews,’
In the wake of this investigation, more than a thousand fake reviews have been removed by the three platforms.
Earlier this year, the government had outlined plans for a Digital, Competition and Consumer Bill which would crackdown on fake reviews.
In response, a spokesperson for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said: ‘We’re investigating the accounts brought to our attention,’
‘We have dedicated extensive time and resources to tackling this issue and will continue to do so. Fraudulent and deceptive activity is not allowed on our platforms, including offering or trading fake reviews,’
Meta has requested further authentication from the accounts brought to its attention and added that its safety and security teams were continuously working to help prevent these practices.
‘Our policies clearly state reviews must be based on real experiences, and when we find policy violations, we take swift action ranging from content removal to account suspension and even litigation,’ said a Google spokesperson.
Google usees a combination of human operators and technology to closely monitor fraudulent content around the clock.
‘We encourage users and business owners to flag suspicious activity to us, which helps us keep the information on Maps accurate and reliable,’
‘While a vast majority of our reviews are authentic, our work to stay a step ahead of scammers is never done, and in this case our teams are continuing to investigate, removing content and blocking accounts associated with malicious activity.’
The average UK household spends around £900 each year that’s directly influenced by online reviews.
Trustpilot said that it was continually working to ensure it was taking appropriate action against attempts to manipulate reviews on its site, including reviews written by review sellers.
‘In the last 18 months, we have introduced new technology that allows us to understand complex patterns of potential misuse and to track this back to identify review sellers and buyers,’ said a Trustpilot spokesperson.
‘This has enabled us to launch legal action against companies that are buying fake reviews, and work with other social media platforms to remove review sellers,’
Additionally, consumers now have the option to verify their identity on Trustpilot.
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