Isn't it Illegal to Write a Fake Review?
Discussion
Received this by email today:
"Hello,
I am writing to request permission to write a review of your company on Trustpilot, goodfirm, designrush, sortlist, google review, amazon and so on....... I am a professional reviewer with experience writing detailed and objective reviews of products and services. I believe my review will be helpful to both your company and the website community. Can you please let me know if you're open to this? I can provide more details about my process and qualifications if you're interested. Thank you for your consideration.
Spurious reviews are illegal, no?
It's no different to some firms/people getting relatives and friends to write reviews. Deceptive, and illegal AFAIK.
"Hello,
I am writing to request permission to write a review of your company on Trustpilot, goodfirm, designrush, sortlist, google review, amazon and so on....... I am a professional reviewer with experience writing detailed and objective reviews of products and services. I believe my review will be helpful to both your company and the website community. Can you please let me know if you're open to this? I can provide more details about my process and qualifications if you're interested. Thank you for your consideration.
Spurious reviews are illegal, no?
It's no different to some firms/people getting relatives and friends to write reviews. Deceptive, and illegal AFAIK.
Antony Moxey said:
mac96 said:
And why are they asking permission?
Presumably because they’ll want paying - isn’t this just an ‘influencer’ in different clothing?K4sper said:
CraigyMc said:
Which specific law would be broken?
potentially a fraud by false representation pursuant to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006I saw a consumer programme showing that you can buy fake reviews by the bucketload if you want. One of the things we just have to accommodate in today's world - like TikTok and potholes.
BertBert said:
rix said:
I'd suggest both!
Awesome!You can review products as a 'side hustle': https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/product-t...
My dad just bought an exercise bike off some guy who does it. Now he's reviewed his free bike, he has no use for it as he won't use it again.
Just like my dad.
My dad just bought an exercise bike off some guy who does it. Now he's reviewed his free bike, he has no use for it as he won't use it again.
Just like my dad.
Get dozens of these a day for my business along with “Buy Instagram/Facebook followers and likes”. All get blocked and deleted but will receive an identical email hours later from a different email address. One of the downsides to having an email address listed on Google etc.
Absolutely nothing can be done about them, just delete and move on. I’m 99% certain it’s all just a scam anyway, pay them £X, get nothing in return.
Absolutely nothing can be done about them, just delete and move on. I’m 99% certain it’s all just a scam anyway, pay them £X, get nothing in return.
CoreyDog said:
Get dozens of these a day for my business along with “Buy Instagram/Facebook followers and likes”. All get blocked and deleted but will receive an identical email hours later from a different email address. One of the downsides to having an email address listed on Google etc.
Absolutely nothing can be done about them, just delete and move on. I’m 99% certain it’s all just a scam anyway, pay them £X, get nothing in return.
Leave them a review.Absolutely nothing can be done about them, just delete and move on. I’m 99% certain it’s all just a scam anyway, pay them £X, get nothing in return.
By accident I did this myself a few years ago.
Bought some sunglasses off a seller on Amazon, was very impressed, so left a review.
A few days later I got an email from them asking if they could send me something else for free & keep it.
This I did & then they did it again.
After this happened there was something else I wanted to buy from Amazon, that looked good, was a touch pricey & had no reviews.
I sent an email like the one the OP got & eventually we agreed on a £20 discount on the £80 item to purchase & leave a review on.
The review I left was positive & 100% honest, this sounds like the approach to the OP, so now who would be committing something illegal?
Bought some sunglasses off a seller on Amazon, was very impressed, so left a review.
A few days later I got an email from them asking if they could send me something else for free & keep it.
This I did & then they did it again.
After this happened there was something else I wanted to buy from Amazon, that looked good, was a touch pricey & had no reviews.
I sent an email like the one the OP got & eventually we agreed on a £20 discount on the £80 item to purchase & leave a review on.
The review I left was positive & 100% honest, this sounds like the approach to the OP, so now who would be committing something illegal?
Countdown said:
Unlike the OP your reviews aren’t fake.
But as I said if this is just the first approach what would be fake about the review?Mine went something like:
Hi there,
I have been looking for one of these for some time & do like the look of yours and notice that it has no reviews online.
I see that you also have it for sale on ebay with no reviews.
I would be very willing to write a review for a free or discounted product to test & keep.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Regards.
Ebmw
There's another kind of fake review which comes as a plea from someone in a group who has just had someone give them negative feedback:
"Guys, could you write me a review to bury it?"
It's just not right.
I received a negative review some time ago when a guy asked for a quote for a windscreen replacement. I provided one. He then changed the specifications of the glass and asked me for a revised quote (but wanted me to order the cheaper one, presumably to cash in from insurer). I thought better of it and swerved him. He then went out of his way to write negative reviews everywhere he could. Most I managed to get removed on the basis that he never was a customer, but FB and TP insist on keeping the reviews there because they represent the experience that he had. In effect, someone could call to ask the time and then leave a review based on that exchange.
"Guys, could you write me a review to bury it?"
It's just not right.
I received a negative review some time ago when a guy asked for a quote for a windscreen replacement. I provided one. He then changed the specifications of the glass and asked me for a revised quote (but wanted me to order the cheaper one, presumably to cash in from insurer). I thought better of it and swerved him. He then went out of his way to write negative reviews everywhere he could. Most I managed to get removed on the basis that he never was a customer, but FB and TP insist on keeping the reviews there because they represent the experience that he had. In effect, someone could call to ask the time and then leave a review based on that exchange.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff