Identify fake authors: This is how fake product reviews are so common in Switzerland

It’s strange that online retailer Microspot has two five-star reviews for the black version of the machine (it’s also available in white). Andreas S. wrote on August 23 under the heading “Great coffee from compostable capsules”: “The machine makes great coffee and milk drinks. The milk has a perfect froth and the drink looks like a restaurant with beautiful layers.😃»

Yehonatan R.’s review in English dates back to August 7: “Easy and very good. Very good cappuccino and very easy to use. I am happy with this machine :)»

Microspot press office was notified of the investigations: “Internal investigations showed this was a mistake. We’ll take a closer look at why reviews are recorded and whether they’re assigned incorrectly. “We will make the correction as soon as possible.”

50 best reviews for 400 francs

User reviews are an important guide for many consumers. This is why the business of fake reviews and comments is thriving as consumers are becoming more and more dependent on them. On many Internet platforms, products are often sorted by price or rating criteria.

So it’s no surprise that companies often write or commission reviews themselves. There are service providers that specialize in exactly this. The “Kassenjagd” (SRF) team found thousands of suspicious profiles in the research in 2021. They used fake profile photos from photo agencies and rated products and services in completely different locations on Google Maps, all at the same time.

In 2021, “Kassenrutsch” found an agency that sells the 50 best reviews for 400 francs. With the support of artificial intelligence, this price will now be only a very small amount.

Of course, stores try to protect themselves by using algorithms to analyze whether a review is real or not, for example. Travel and hotel provider Tripadvisor alone removed more than 1.3 million false reviews from its website in 2022. About 70 percent of it was discovered before it was published on the website.

30 to 40 percent are fake

Comments longer than three paragraphs are usually genuine, according to a professional pseudo-reviewer who spoke to the British Guardian. This is because a fake writer will not put in any more effort than is absolutely necessary. However, this situation may of course change with the use of artificial intelligence.

That’s why the justice system comes into play. In 2018, for the first time in Italy, a man was convicted for selling fake reviews: the verdict was nine months in prison and a fine of 8,000 euros, the “Observer” magazine reported. The decision was hailed as a success by travel review portal Tripadvisor.

But the justice system cannot keep up with fraud. Various studies estimate that 30 to 40 percent of online reviews may be fake. In fact, this rate seems to be 100 percent for the black Delonghi machine in the Microspot online store.