Trustpilot in the news – KwikChex contacted for information

The Doorbraak magazine recently published an article outlining the issue of fake reviews and Trustpilot’s ongoing failure to address them in a timely and effective manner. The article highlights the challenges faced by genuine reviewers who are undermined by the platform’s review system.

Concerning news

Reviewers who referenced police warnings in their posts have faced repeated demands from Trustpilot to provide supporting evidence. Even after initial submissions, Trustpilot continued to request additional proof, stating that the existing documentation was insufficient and insisting the reviews be amended.

Additionally, some reviewers have raised serious concerns about Trustpilot’s lack of response to reported death threats made by business owners.

“Victims who insist a little too much on a refund and dare to post a negative review often receive (death) threats from Amarsingh.”

“Alain also received such messages, such as: ‘I’ll also cancer your windows out 1 these evenings or have it done and no one knows it’s from me but you.’ He informed Trustpilot – as well as the police – each time. But he never gets more than a meaningless answer from Trustpilot”.

Journalist Astrid Elbers reached out to KwikChex for further information. 

Chris Emmins, CEO of KwikChex provided this response: “Although Trustpilot talks about all kinds of advanced methods it uses to tackle fake reviews, in reality their method is very sloppy.

There are several reasons for this. First of all, they don’t know the companies on their platform and don’t check whether they are reliable. Secondly, they don’t know the reviewers. The so-called “verified reviews” that they like to show off are misleading. These are generated by their system where reviews can be written ‘by invitation’. That system can easily be abused by rogue companies. A story like Amarsingh’s is commonplace, but that in itself is still relatively innocent.

Much more dangerous is that fraudulent financial investment companies also manage to achieve very high scores on Trustpilot. Consumers who are misled by this risk losing a lot of money. Previously, we uncovered a company that had 22,000 excellent reviews on Trustpilot. Although it was an untrustworthy crypto company and part of a group of tech companies that misled consumers and investors, it was given the status of “Best UK Bank” on Trustpilot. After our research was made public, Trustpilot had to remove almost all reviews.”

The problem extends beyond consumers, as even well-established brands are adversely affected by fraudulent reviews.

“The fraudulent investment companies Crystalcoinstake, Dexglobal Yield and brokerspark.com can be found on Trustpilot in the category “Best rated in the investment company category”. However, the first two are no longer active and the third does not even have a secure website. Conversely, some of the most trusted brands in the world – such as Apple, Harley-Davidson, and Lexus – also have a very low Trustpilot score. So consumers absolutely cannot make the right choices based on Trustpilot scores.”

Click here to read the article on the Doorbraak website

Credits

Author: Astrid Elbers

Publication: Doorbraak (https://doorbraak.be/)

Date: 30/06/25