Amazon targets 10,000 fake review Facebook groups

Image source, Getty Images

The administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups are being taken to court by Amazon.

The groups are making fake reviews on Amazon in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan.

The groups give money or free goods in exchange for reviews on Amazon, according to the tech giant.

One of the groups was taken down by Facebook's parent company Meta.

It was called a product review.

Once the people in the group had purchased certain products, the administrators would give them refunds. Car stereos and camera tripods were involved.

Positive reviews boost sellers' visibility on Amazon's platforms as well as placing them higher up on search engine results.

Without knowing that fake reviews will be carried out, Amazon sellers can pay for services that promise to increase their ratings.

Amazon said that the group admins hid key phrases that would have been flagged by Meta.

The firm shared one example of a post on Facebook.

After they were reported by Amazon, around half of the groups were taken down. The administrators of all of them were being targeted.

The vice president of selling partner services at Amazon said that legal action against bad actors is one of the ways they protect customers.

Image source, Meta

There is a court in Washington King County near the Amazon headquarters.

Meta stated that groups that solicit or encourage fake reviews are removed. We are working with Amazon on the issue of fake reviews and will continue to work with other companies.

The UK is considering a proposal that would make it illegal to pay someone to write or host fake reviews.