In-depth investigation by the agency reveals that Amazon sellers bribed consumers

A recent survey by British consumer group Which? shows that in the past year, as many as one in ten Amazon consumers have received a "bribe" from a seller in exchange for a positive review of a product.

The group claimed that unscrupulous sellers on Amazon were "bombarding customers" with incentives such as gift cards, free products and refunds . Amazon responded that it had clear policies prohibiting the abuse of reviews.

Which? said it surveyed more than 1,500 British adults in July and found that 10 % of respondents who had purchased goods from Amazon in the past 12 months had received a note or card in the product packaging encouraging them to leave a five-star review.

In addition, about 8% said that sellers asked them to leave five-star reviews in exchange for some reward through email or other means, and 4% of respondents said that sellers contacted them and said they would receive rewards if they changed negative reviews to positive ones.

Some consumers told Which? that they received a £50 Amazon voucher from the seller, plus the temptation of a full refund if they left a good review. Others said that they received a £10 gift card in the package, and the other party hoped to use it in exchange for a five-star review.

The UK government is currently studying how to add new powers to tackle the problem of fake reviews in a bill currently being considered by Parliament.

“It’s clear that sellers on Amazon are bombarding customers with incentives, and we’ve seen evidence of their success in circumventing Amazon’s algorithm,” said Rocio Concha, director of the consumer group .

She added: “Amazon and other review hosting sites need to step up and do more to eliminate fake reviews from their platforms.”

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We have clear policies against review abuse, and we do not allow sellers to contact customers directly and offer them incentives, such as gift cards, to change their review.”

In June, Amazon said consumers were being deceived because social media platforms and messaging apps did not do enough to prevent "fraudsters" from recruiting fake reviews.

The company added that it proactively blocked more than 200 million suspected fake reviews last year.

This week, the Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of using its dominant position to raise the average price of goods and charge sellers excessive fees.

The lawsuit is still ongoing.

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