Aukey kicked off Amazon following fake reviews allegations [Update]
Aukey kicked off Amazon following fake reviews allegations [Update]
Top accessory manufacturer Aukey has been kicked off Amazon following a massive data breach that detailed a pay-for-play scheme in which manufacturers would pay customers for positive reviews. Tomtop and Mpow were likewise implicated in the scheme.
The report, uncovered by SafetyDetectives, establish straight messages between Amazon vendors and customers where positive reviews were exchanged for free products. Once a product was loaded with positive reviews, it would naturally climb on Amazon's product page, which would meet an increase in sales and, equally such, legitimate reviews would follow.
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Editor'due south Note: A representative for Aukey has provided the post-obit statement to Tom'south Guide regarding the matter, only it does not address the veracity of the allegations.
In a statement to Tom'south Guide, an Aukey representative said, "I don't know the details of what has happened either. Nosotros are currently working on finding a solution. The visitor has non been significantly affected at the moment and the daily work routine is as well proceeding equally normal."
DigitalTrends reports that Aukey, Tomtop and Mpow products have been completely removed past Amazon. Attempts to click on Aukey EP-T27 earbuds links take you to an empty Amazon page with "sorry" written beyond the top and a picture of a dog.
As of this writing, the Mpow storefront seems to still be live at Amazon, although all of its products are shown as "currently unavailable." The Tomtop storefront does not appear to exist available, but there are still Tomtop-branded products upward for sale.
It's unclear if other brands were affected.
As detailed by SafetyDetectives, accessory makers would work with a third-party to inform potential reviewers which products needed actress five-stars. People would then buy the products on their personal accounts, leaving said five-star review. The reviewer followed upward sending a message to the vendor with a link of their Amazon profile along with PayPal information. It's so that the reviewer would receive a refund through PayPal, and the production they reviewed could be kept as a grade of payment or advantage.
SafetyDetectives says information technology's found 75K accounts all potentially being used to post illegitimate reviews. The breached and unclaimed ElasticSearch server, which was unencrypted, establish a total of 232,664 Gmail accounts, some that could potentially identify individuals. While the server is located in China, information technology included users in the U.S. and Europe. The server has since been secured.
SafetyDetectives posits that the server was owned by a third-party that was acting with Aukey and other sellers to round-up potential reviewers.
Interestingly, SafetyDetectives found that reviewers had to abide past certain criteria. This included waiting a few days before posting a review, having certain word-counts and, on occasion, posting a video review as well. SafetyDetectives likewise institute that when approaching potential reviewers, this third-party used professional person-sounding language to make the scheme look legitimate. Of course, the third-party never pointed out that writing fake reviews for compensation could, at the very to the lowest degree, violate Amazon's terms of service.
Some Twitter users take begun posting images of coercive messaging past Aukey that asks to submit an "honest review" for compensation. Tom'southward Guide has not independently verified these claims.
Patently, brands similar Aukey accept already felt Amazon'south wrath by allegedly breaking its rules. It's uncertain if any of the banned vendors will be allowed back on or if individuals will also have their accounts suspended.
False reviews on Amazon are non new, still. It'due south been a longstanding issue with the retail giant, as fake review publishing has get its ain cottage manufacture. Luckily, at that place are browser extensions like Fakespot that can help buyers filter through illegitimate reviews.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/aukey-kicked-off-amazon-following-fake-reviews-allegations
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