fake reviews / reputation / yelp NY sting

Fake online reviews crackdown in New York sees 19 companies fined

Attorney general set up a fake yoghurt shop in Brooklyn to ensnare fake online review companies, fined a total of $350,000

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/23/new-york-fake-online-reviews-yoghurt

[Robin Garr]

So, do we get fake reviews on HotBytes?

So glad that crime in NY has supposedly decreased to the point that the biggest issue facing the Attorney General are reputation companies offering to post fake positive reviews for you.

I dont think that's illegal in KY. Be right back going to set up my new business.......

So glad that crime in NY has supposedly decreased to the point that the biggest issue facing the Attorney General are reputation companies offering to post fake positive reviews for you.

I dont think that's illegal in KY. Be right back going to set up my new business.......

That's a weak argument. Should they not investigate muggings until all murders are solved? It is possible for the AG's office to go after more than one crime at a time.

So glad that crime in NY has supposedly decreased to the point that the biggest issue facing the Attorney General are reputation companies offering to post fake positive reviews for you.

I dont think that's illegal in KY. Be right back going to set up my new business.......

That's a weak argument. Should they not investigate muggings until all murders are solved? It is possible for the AG's office to go after more than one crime at a time.

True but they still have a finite number of resources in which to pursue crime, and just like an emergency room you have to triage.

As a former NYPD officer, I can assure you, while the AG's office doesnt handle street crime like the NYPD does, they should have higher priorities than business reputation managers.

I mean how is that even illegal? The state legislature made it illegal to hire someone to write good reviews for you? Really? Its a really big stretch to charge the PR companies with intent to defraud. You could maybe go after the restaurants who hired them (by claiming they used fraudulent reviews in order to obtain business and money from customers) but even that would be a stretch.

But the PR firm posting the review? I wouldnt have settled.

Edit- Let me edit this to add, I know why he did it. Headlines and politics. He got press out of it. But I dont think it was even that shrewd of a move politically. Were I back in NYC most of us would be making fun of him for it, not heaping praise or lauding him.

So, do we get fake reviews on HotBytes?

We must, I see people go on and on about how great Wick's Pizza is....

[Robin Garr]

We must, I see people go on and on about how great Wick's Pizza is....

I do see it on a very soft, pretty much forgivable level, though, when a vendor will occasionally take pains to post glowing comments on a restaurant client.

Maybe I am remembering a previous post incorrectly, but it seems what the actual crime was advertising agents writing BAD reviews about restaurants after having been turned down for their advertising skills. Much like slander I suppose.

here's the AG's press release which has some interesting detail:

By producing fake reviews, these companies violated multiple state laws against false advertising and engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-s ... eviews-and

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the AG's office received complaints about this activity from business owners.

I don't really see posting glowing reviews about your own or a client's business as a major threat to the social order. Posting a bunch of negative reviews and then trying to sell reputation enhancement services is something else, though.

Posting a bunch of negative reviews and then trying to sell reputation enhancement services is something else, though.

Which is what I thought they were doing prior to reading the article. I assumed that if they spent time going after the reputation management companies, the companies most be engaged in some form of online electronic extortion. ie pay us and we will remove the negative reviews and post positive ones.

This doesnt seem to be the case at all though. They appear (according to the press release and news story) to have simply been prosecuted for posting positive reviews for a price.

To me this is no different than paying an actor in a television commercial about your restaurant to act as a customer who loves your food. Last time I checked such a thing was not illegal.

how to spot fake reviews

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... iews-guide