Fake reviews are everywhere… but are they criminal?
In Italy, it would appear that way.
In September 2018, an Italian judge sentenced a man to nine months in jail and nearly $10,000 in fines. So what was his crime? Publishing thousands of fake reviews for pay on Trip Advisor on behalf of his hotelier clients. As a result, this is the first recorded incident of a criminal conviction for posting fake reviews.
The key issue in the man’s guilt was his use of fraudulent identities to post fake reviews. We interpret this to mean that he may — repeat: may — have had less culpability if he had used his real identity to post the fake reviews. In other words, his guilt was due mostly to identity fraud, and less due to the actual posting of the fake reviews. Now this is just our interpretation.
Holding reviewers accountable
In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations govern online reviews. It is a violation of FTC regulations to pay for — or publish your own — fake reviews. In fact, it is punishable by civil penalties (such as fines). On the other hand, authors of fake reviews are harder to hold accountable. This precedent in Italy of convicting a fake reviewer over identity fraud may pave the way for US companies and government to hold fake reviewers accountable.
Of course, this raises some questions. Exactly what is a fake review? Would parody reviews be considered fake? Would all those vengeance reviews left on the Red Hen restaurant over the ejection of Sarah Huckabee Sanders be considered fake? What if you use a pseudonym on Facebook and leave a review of a business?
Civil legal liability
Finally, by authoring fake reviews on sites like Amazon, Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor, you may be opening yourself to civil legal liability for breach of contract. All of these sites prohibit fraudulent activities. Furthermore, while writing a fake review on one of them wouldn’t be considered a criminal offense, they can sue you for violating them once you’ve agree to their terms of use.
Our advice
All things considered, everyone is entitled to voice their opinion about various consumer products and services through leaving online reviews. That being said, fake and/or unethical reviews can get you into trouble. Read the service/product website’s terms for leaving reviews. Always be honest. Most importantly, avoid the temptation to accept offers to write fake reviews for money. Obviously, that’s one of the easiest ways to keep yourself out of trouble.
Above all, stay safe out there -> Be careful about how you conduct your reviews!
Related news
Another related story: A man in Illinois was convicted of wire fraud for making hundreds of fake restaurant reservations. If making fake restaurant reservations amounts to wire fraud, could the same be said of fake online reviews? Find out more here.
Tell us what you think! Tweet us @100_Reviews and share your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you and maybe even feature you (or share your story) on an upcoming episode of the #ReviewChat Podcast!
I see hundreds of fake review a month, many of which are approved by other sites. They often come from offshore IP addresses, often with expiring emails (no attempt to even assert a real identity). I haven’t figured out what to do with these. We’ve considered calling the providers out since they’re likely paying for it.
Many of these reviews are posted on other healthcare review websites.
Other than the offshore IP addresses, what are some other signs that a healthcare review is fake?