News
Reporting on fraud, review manipulation, misleading information and the work of protecting consumers and honest businesses.
725 articles
Credits: BBC News ‘The UK must do more to stop online fraud and deter state-sponsored cyber-espionage or risk losing the fight against e-crime, MPs have warned. The Home Affairs Select Committee said much low-level internet-based financial crime was falling into a "black hole" and was not reported to the police.
Credits: The Telegraph By: Daniel Johnson ‘A businessman set up a fake restaurant with glowing reviews in a bid to expose the apparent failings of the TripAdvisor website, prompting baffled customers to be led down a backstreet alleyway.’ ‘Oscar’s was billed as having “amazing” and “mind blowing” Michelin-s
Credits: Mail Online By Eleanor Harding * Oscar’s was billed as one of the best places to eat in Britain * The staff ‘would swim to catch whatever fish the customer wanted’ * Bookings began to flood in after the eatery supposedly opened on May 1 * Diners were baffled when they arrived at an […]
Credits: Telegraph Travel By: Oliver Smith ‘TripAdvisor has come under fire after its fraud detection systems failed to prevent a non-existent business becoming one of the most highly-rated restaurants in a popular seaside town.’ ‘Chris Emmins, co-founder of the online reputation management firm KwikChex, s
Credits: Caterer and Hotelkeeper By: Neil Gerrard ‘TripAdvisor has removed hundreds of positive reviews for a Halifax restaurant, causing it to crash from being the number one business in the area to near bottom, amid suspicion that many of the reviews were fake.’ ‘KwikChex has now asked TripAdvisor to allo
Credits: NCB News By: Rosa Golijan ‘Sometimes people post negative online reviews for products they never even used, not because they really hate a company, want to make a competing product look better or because they’re just bored — but instead, a study suggests, these folks are actually customers who are a litt
Credits: Trib Live By: The Los Angeles Times ‘Consumers often turn to the Internet to research a product before buying. Fake reviews are always a concern, and the problem may be bigger than previously thought. There have long been reports and rumors of businesses posting negative reviews of their competitors’ pro
Credits: Business 2 Community By: Cynthia Effinger ‘The fact that a consumer can now share their experiences with thousands at a time through a simple Facebook post is both thrilling and frightening.’ ‘Amy’s Baking Company: A Social Media Nightmare Amy, an Arizona restaurateur, and her co-owner husband rece
Credits: Los Angeles Times By: Andrea Chang ‘Consumers often turn to the Internet to research a product before buying. Fake reviews are always a concern, and the problem may be bigger than previously thought.’ ‘The duo found that about 5% of the product reviews were written by customers with no record of ac
Credits: Digital Trends By: Jam Kotenko ‘Yelp has decided to go even bigger with their pursuit against false information and directed a major lawsuit against BuyOnlineReviews.net, which conveniently also owns the domain BuyYelpReview.com. The complaint filed last week seeks to shut down said site through a court
Credits: Travel Weekly, USA By: Danny King ‘Paris-based hotelier Accor said it had placed one of its executives on a leave of absence after learning that he had posted more than 100 reviews of both Accor-operated hotels and competing properties on TripAdvisor under an assumed alias.’ ‘The U.K.-based online
