Small firms harmed by fake reviews

SMALL firms are losing sales to dodgy rivals which are targeting shoppers with fake reviews on Amazon, eBay and Facebook, it has been claimed.

Rogue businesses, many in the Far East, are using so-called review factories to buy positive ratings for shoddy or dangerous goods.

Research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says its members which trade ethically are losing trade here and abroad.

The Competition and Markets Authority has sounded the alarm over the problem as online reviews influence an estimated £23billion transactions a year in the UK alone. The Daily Mail revealed last month how families were being duped into buying products by fake reviews on Amazon. One firm in Germany, which claimed to have 3,000 Britons on its books, was selling positive reviews to firms for a charge of £12 a time.

Research by the consumer group Which? has found that products so shoddy they are worthy of a ‘Don’t Buy’ warning are listed with four- and five-star reviews.

The FSB said small firms are reliant on online platforms to succeed. A survey of members found 21 per cent have suffered from fake reviews, with shoppers steered to rival products or targeted by fake malicious ratings as part of a dirty tricks campaign.

Mike Cherry, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘Businesses are using the online opportunities being offered to grow their firms. But huge difficulties lie ahead. Crucial to small firms are websites like eBay, Amazon and Facebook which are central to advertising, sales and exporting aims.

‘However, small businesses’ use of online platforms is not without problems and still too many encounter problems such as fake or malicious reviews, problems with intellectual property and sudden delisting of their products. We would urge the Government to monitor these trends as the e-commerce market continues to expand.’

Amazon said: ‘Last year, we prevented more than 13million attempts to leave an inauthentic review and we took action against more than five million bad actor accounts attempting to manipulate reviews.’

Facebook said: ‘We don’t allow people to facilitate or encourage false reviews. We continue to improve our tools to proactively prevent this abuse.’ While eBay said: ‘Listings such as these are strictly against our policy.’

MILLIONS DUPED BY ‘TRUSTED’ AMAZON REVIEWS

Daily Mail: Dec 23