Amazon is suing two websites that allegedly used their networks of more than 900,000 users to post fake reviews to e-commerce marketplaces.
AppSally and Rebatest operate as “fake review brokers,” Amazon said in an announcement. In AppSally’s case, the website allows merchants to buy Amazon reviews for as little as $20. Rebatest, on the other hand, asks interested users to first buy a product from Amazon; it’ll then refund the cost in exchange for a review.
“The lawsuits aim to shut down two major fake review brokers, AppSally and Rebatest, who helped mislead shoppers by having their members try to post fake reviews in stores such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy,” according the Amazon.
Together, the claim “to have more than 900,000 members willing to write fake reviews,” Amazaon said. Rebatest’s own homepage says over 818,000 members have used the site to save $11 million.
In investigating Rebatest, Amazon allegedly found the site “will only pay people writing 5-star reviews after their fake reviews are approved by the bad actors attempting to sell those items.”
Meanwhile on AppSally, merchants were allegedly shipping empty boxes to users willing to write fake reviews, likely as a way to fool Amazon systems into thinking the same users were verified buyers of the actual products. To make the fake reviews seem even more authentic, AppSally would also upload pictures that could be posted alongside the reviews.
“While we prevent millions of suspicious reviews from ever appearing in our store, these lawsuits target the source,” Amazon VP for Customer Trust Dharmesh Mehta said in the announcement.
AppSally and Rebatest did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AppSally is based in New Zealand. It’s unclear where Rebatest is located.
Amazon didn’t say where it’s suing AppSally and Rebatest. But the lawsuits are part of an ongoing effort to stop inauthentic reviews from circulating on the company’s website and app. “Amazon receives more than 30 million reviews each week, and uses a combination of machine learning technology and skilled investigators to analyze each review before it is displayed,” the company added.