Coming off what it characterized as a successful Prime Day, Amazon has announced it will enter a lawsuit alongside the Better Business Bureau to shut down a source of what it characterizes as fake reviews.
Although it doesn’t release numbers on Prime Day, Amazon announced that the event was a major success, and Adobe Analytics numbers indicate that sales on the occasion grew by 11% to $14.2 billion in the United States, even if market researcher Numerator’s numbers looked a bit softer.
However, fake reviews and other fraud perpetuated online continue to be a source of consumer frustration that potentially stands in the way of greater sales growth. Amazon has taken another step to combat what it terms the fake review broker industry by filing a joint lawsuit with the Better Business Bureau against an illegitimate business called ReviewServiceUSA.com. The website operators attempted to sell fake positive reviews to bad actors for publication on Amazon product listing pages or bureau business profile pages, the retailer asserted. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Amazon noted that it and the bureau have clear policies prohibiting fake reviews, adding that the company is in an ongoing fight against fraudulent posts and proactively blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviews from its store in 2023. This joint legal action seeks to shut down ReviewServiceUSA operations, preventing it from facilitating fake reviews targeting Amazon’s store, the bureau and other legitimate companies and organizations.
In March, Amazon won a judgment against a review broker in Amazon versus Auction Sentinel. Operators of the website auctionsentinel.com sold fake five-star verified seller feedback to bad actors operating Amazon selling accounts to artificially inflate ratings, the retailer stated and also offered a Stealth Account Setup Service that assisted in the creation of fraudulent selling accounts for bad actors ineligible to create a new selling account in the Amazon store. The court granted disgorgement damages, requiring defendants to give up profits made as a result of their illegal conduct. In addition, the website domain has since been transferred to Amazon, the retailer maintained.
“Amazon is committed to ensuring reviews remain a trustworthy, insightful resource for consumers worldwide, and we have zero tolerance for any attempts to mislead our customers through fake reviews,” said Claire O’Donnell, Amazon’s director of selling partner trust and store integrity, in announcing the suit. “We’re grateful for the collaboration with the Better Business Bureau to hold these fake review brokers accountable for their deceitful actions. This lawsuit sends a clear message to bad actors that Amazon will use all available means to preserve the authenticity of product reviews.”
