Dive Brief:

• Amazon and Google filed separate complaints Monday against a Bangladeshi man and multiple others they said peddled fake reviews starting last year for products sold on Amazon and for local businesses that advertise on Google Maps. The companies are seeking injunctions and damages against the effort from district courts in their home states of Washington and California.
• The companies named Proloy Pondit, listed as a resident of Bangladesh, and a site he controlled, Bigboostup.com, along with as many as 20 unknown defendants. Pondit, who lists his professional expertise on LinkedIn as digital media and search engine marketing, said in a brief note to Legal Dive that he had “not sold any product,” adding “I will not do anything that harms people.”
• Both companies said they use technology and other means to police the reviews posted on their digital properties and have gone to court previously against other “bad actors” providing and posting fake reviews. Pondit and the other defendants posted more than 1,000 fake reviews on Google via their site, according to Google’s complaint.

Dive Insight:

Amazon and Google consider the legitimacy of customer reviews a critical aspect of their business as millions of people use these to shape their shopping selections for a retail item, restaurant or hair salon.

Amazon said in a blog post Monday that it took legal action against “more than 150 bad actors” last year who attempted to “engage in reviews abuse” in the U.S., China and Europe. The company also removed more than 250 million suspect reviews in 2023.

“These parallel actions seek to stop BigBoostUp from reengaging in deceptive operations, and prevent defendants from selling and publishing fake reviews and other fake content targeting Amazon’s stores, Google business listing services, and other legitimate companies and organizations,” Amazon said in its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

“Fake product reviews, fake feedback, and other fake content can significantly undermine the trust that customers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s brand.”

Amazon said the defendants acquired the domain name Bigboostup.com in September 2023, to operate an “illicit business of selling fake product reviews to bad actors, among other illicit services targeting Amazon and a variety of other companies and organizations.”

The fake product reviews cost $60 for one review to $2,680 for 50 reviews, according to Amazon’s complaint.

The defendants told prospective customers they would post each review with a customer account that had a “unique profile” and was verified or created with a dedicated email address, according to the suit.

Amazon is seeking an injunction and treble damages for violating consumer protection laws, breach of contract, intentional interference with contractual relations and unjust enrichment. The retailer also wants information to identify all fake product reviews, seller feedback and any other fake content on its stores.

Amazon and Google are both seeking to recover whatever sale proceeds the fake-review operation collected.

Google said the Bigboostup.com site generated fake Google reviews from October 2023 to September of this year.

“Defendants claim that they can and will author positive or negative reviews for any business listed on Google Maps, virtually anywhere in the world. Defendants provide these “services” for businesses they have never visited, instead posting fraudulent and misleading reviews for financial gain and at the cost of both businesses and consumers who rely on review,” Google said in its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.

Editor’s note: Updates second bullet item with comment from Pondit.