Fabricated reviews claimed the weight-loss supplement “blocked fat from forming.”
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it’s settled its first action against a marketer who used fake paid reviews to boost sales of its product on Amazon.
The FTC had accused Cure Encapsulations of paying AmazonVerifiedReviews.com to write and post fake reviews to maintain an average Amazon rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars for the company’s garcinia cambogia weight-loss supplement. The agency had also accused the company of making false and unsubstantiated claims, including reviews that said the product caused weight loss of two or more pounds each and “literally blocks fat from forming.”
Customer reviews have been a critical part of Amazon’s business for more than 20 years, with the written reviews and 5-star rating system providing buyers and sellers with a helpful form of accountability and sign of popularity and quality of products. But, like with any rating system, people try to work around it.
