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US retail giant Amazon has issued a lawsuit against 1,114 people accused of posting fake product reviews on its website.
The move is the second such effort by the website to combat ‘false, misleading and inauthentic’ reviews this year, after it took a number of review sellers to court in April.
Those accused are currently referred to as ‘John Does’, due to their anonymity.
Fake five-star reviews are often used by third-party sellers to attract customers by achieving a higher overall customer score, and can be brought for less than $5 (3.24) on various sites.
Amazon tested its assumptions by purchasing a number of reviews on one such website, Fiverr, reporting that falsified reviews were posted from multiple accounts by exploiting IP addresses.
However, Fiverr is not a defendant in the case, and has said that it will work with Amazon during the trial.
"While small in number, these reviews can significantly undermine the trust that consumers and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s brand," Amazon’s complaint detailed.
Amazon is bringing this action to protect its customers from this misconduct, by stopping defendants and uprooting the ecosystem in which they participate.”
Note: The review featured in the lead image of this article is not one of the fake reviewers accused by Amazon
