The fake review database was leaked, and 75,000 Amazon seller accounts may be permanently blocked!

Recently, the Safety Detecties cybersecurity organization discovered an organized Amazon fake review scam that may involve 200,000 people.

Amazon fake review scam exposed, more than 200,000 people implicated

In March, the Safety Detecties cybersecurity team discovered a database breach that contained more than 13 million direct communications between vendors and customers who were willing to provide fake reviews in exchange for free products.

It is reported that the server of the database is located in China , but the owner of the ElasticSearch server cannot be identified at present.

In this database breach, personal data of people who provided fake reviews as well as Amazon sellers could be found , such as sellers ’ account numbers, email addresses , WhatsApp and Telegram phone numbers, etc., as well as reviewers’ Amazon accounts /profiles , PayPal account details, email addresses, usernames , etc.

Supplier's contact details

Link to Amazon Account

While there may be multiple duplicates included in the leaked data , approximately 75,000 Chinese Amazon accounts were compromised , with approximately 200,000-250,000 people impacted by this breach .

For Amazon sellers , purchasing fake reviews is a serious violation of Amazon's terms of service , and Amazon will take a series of sanctions against them.

The 75,000 Amazon accounts that were caught for fake reviews are at risk of being permanently blocked , and the sellers will immediately lose their selling privileges . In addition, these fake reviews will also be removed from any product pages that contain fake reviews.

Individuals who sell fake reviews may also be subject to legal sanctions . A fraudulent reviewer with thousands of fake reviews could pay a fine of more than $10,000 .

How the Amazon fake reviews scam works

According to public data, these Amazon sellers’ review-brushing methods are very rigorous and they have cleverly avoided Amazon’s scrutiny.

Amazon sellers will send a list of items and products they need a five-star review for. After a customer purchases a product and writes a review, they will be sent a link with their Amazon profile and PayPal details before receiving a refund for the product .

Once the Amazon vendor confirms that all reviews are complete, the reviewer will receive a refund via PayPal and can keep the item they purchased for free.

Any refunds for purchases are reportedly processed through PayPal, rather than directly through Amazon's platform , which makes the five-star reviews look legitimate and avoid arousing suspicion on the Amazon platform .

Amazon sellers pay for reviews

Amazon vendors also give these review customers instructions to make their reviews sound more credible and avoid being picked up by Amazon’s review team . These include providing specific criteria in the review , waiting a few days before posting, and ensuring the review is no longer than a few sentences, and may even include smaller details in the review.

Some suppliers require a specific word count for reviews

In recent years, Amazon and other online technology giants have faced increasing pressure from the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) to do more to curb fake reviews on their platforms . Amazon has also launched various measures to strictly control fake reviews.

This data leak also reminds sellers not to rely on luck. Once caught, it will be too late to regret.

Brush reviews

Database leak

Account suspension