Amazon banned Aukey, Mpow, Tacklife, TomTop and many more from its store following a discovery that probably left only Amazon itself surprised. It is not the first time, in fact, that we hear about companies that decide to give their products to users in exchange for positive reviews on e-commerce, a practice obviously prohibited also because it is to the detriment of the users themselves.
Amazon's review system should in fact help users decide which products to buy based on the opinions of those who have previously bought that product. This allows users to orient themselves within the vastness of offers available on the online store.
Unfortunately, the reviews that we find under the products are not always 100% honest and the discovery made by SafetyDetectives did nothing else than finally giving Amazon the evidence it needed to penalize the cunning of the case.
A huge public archive has been discovered, now made private, containing a set of contacts including email addresses, PayPal accounts and telephone numbers linked to WhatsApp and Telegram belonging to users who had lent themselves to the incorrect practice. They purchased the product in question with the promise of receiving a refund from the brand after the positive review was posted on Amazon.
The survey also revealed a network through which some advice on writing reviews was shared to avoid the attention of the automatic systems that Amazon uses to monitor its e-commerce. The reviews had in fact to meet certain length requirements, not to be published too quickly following the purchase and to focus on some particular details of the product in question.
Has the review trading system been therefore dismantled? Obviously, those who want to try to cheat the American giant will be able to find other loopholes.
Most likely, however, rather than losing the visibility that Amazon offers to products, companies will think twice before offering users gifts or refunds by explicitly asking for a positive review in return…
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