Weight Loss Diet Solutions

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on fake Amazon reviews.

The FTC has successfully brought the first-ever case against a supplement company that allegedly boosted its Amazon ratings through a third-party firm that crafts fake “verified” reviews.

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Fake or real? Consumers and marketing expert caution about believing online reviews

According to the settlement, Cure Encapsulations sold a supplement on Amazon touted as an “appetite-suppressing, fat-blocking, weight-loss pill.”

One of the ingredients in the supplement is an Indonesian plant called garcinia cambogia that has been linked to acute liver failure.

“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online. When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.

The FTC claims the company’s founder turned to amazonverifiedreviews.com — one of the hundreds of websites that writes fake five-star reviews for a fee.

Cure Encapsulations must now inform Amazon that it paid for reviews and must notify all customers who purchased the so-called weight-loss supplement.

The FTC is imposing a $12.8-million fine, with only $50,000 due and the remainder used as a way to enforce the judgement.

WATCH: Tips from a marketing expert about how to spot fake reviews

Research shows that 91 per cent of consumers rely on online reviews for their purchases, and it takes about 10 reviews before a consumer can start trusting a business or product.

But a lot of those reviews are unreliable, and experts say it can put consumers at risk.

Fakespot, a website that identifies fake reviews, estimates 30 per cent of product reviews on Amazon are inauthentic.

Recognizing this is a widespread problem, Amazon has taken the matter into its own hands. As an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch, the company has filed suits against more than 1,000 defendants for “review abuse” since 2015. They’ve also sued the third-party sites that write them.

[Update 2/27/19 8:05pm: An Amazon spokesperson gave us the following statement:
“We welcome the FTC’s work in this area. Amazon invests significant resources to protect the integrity of reviews in our store because we know customers value the insights and experiences shared by fellow shoppers. Even one inauthentic review is one too many. We have clear participation guidelines for both reviewers and selling partners and we suspend, ban, and take legal action on those who violate our policies.”]

In the first ever case of its kind, the Federal Trade Commission just reached a settlement that includes a $12.8 million fine against an herbal supplement company that paid for fake five-star reviews to boost its Amazon sales.

The fraudulent company, Cure Encapsulations, contacted a site that churns out fake reviews — amazonverifiedreviews.com (now taken down) — and told them, ““Please make my product … stay a five star.” They then paid the sleazy site “$1,000 for 30 reviews in order to bump the product’s ratings,” according to Mashable.

Along with the falsified reviews purporting to be from actual customers, the FTC also alleged that the company made “false and unsubstantiated claims” for the pills known as Quality Encapsulations Garcinia Cambogia.

Garcinia cambogia is a tropical fruit found in Indonesia that has been used as a natural aid for weight loss. As The Verge points out, use of the herbal supplement has associated with acute liver failure.

“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online,” said director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith in a statement. “When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules.”

Along with the hefty fine, Cure Encapsulations is also banned “from making weight-loss, appetite-suppression, fat-blocking, or disease-treatment claims for any dietary supplement, food, or drug unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence in the form of human clinical testing supporting the claims,” according to the FTC.

You mean they’re still allowed to run a business? Buyers beware!

Image: Robert Nelson/Flickr

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Carla Sinclair

Carla Sinclair is the co-founder of bOING bOING, the founding editor-in-chief of CRAFT magazine, and editor-in-chief of Wink. She has written several books, including Net Chick, The Happy Mutant Handbook, Signal to Noise, and Braid Crazy.

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