The administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups are being sued by Amazon.
The admins of the group are accused of soliciting reviews in exchange for money or free products. One of the groups, "Amazon Product Review," had over 43,000 members and allegedly offered refunds or other payment to buyers willing to leave fake reviews on products.
The complaint said that there was a group called "Amazon Varified Buyer & Seller." According to the complaint, administrators sought out fake reviews and offered them to Amazon sellers for $10 each.
Amazon said that Meta has taken down half of the groups it reported.
Amazon is trying to root out fake reviews on its marketplaces. The company has brought in record revenue thanks to the marketplace. As Amazon has grown, so has the number of fake reviews. Bad actors try to get fake reviews to boost their ratings.
Who is running the groups is not clear. According to the complaint, Amazon filed the lawsuit in order to learn their identities, shut down the groups and force them to return their ill-gotten gains.
Amazon has teams that look out for fake reviews. The groups are closed with the help of Facebook. There are new Facebook groups that offer fake reviews.
Potential new members are required to provide proof that they are an Amazon seller in order to be admitted to the group. Posters will try to get around detection by using the phrase "Refund after review" and typing "R**fund R**vew."
Amazon has previously said that it uses a combination of machine-learning and human reviewers. It has asked other social media companies to help as fake-review communities have flourished in Facebook groups and in messaging apps.
It is difficult to spot fake reviews on Amazon.
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