Amazon Takes Legal Action Against Fake Review Brokers

Amazon.com Inc AMZN filed legal complaints in Italy and Spain in its global bid to shut down fake review brokers.
These two legal proceedings, plus ten new U.S. lawsuits, target bad actors that operate more than 11,000 websites and social media groups attempting to orchestrate fake reviews on Amazon and other stores in exchange for money or freebies.
Amazon's first criminal complaint in Europe targets a high-profile broker in Italy selling fake reviews.
The defendant claims to have built a network of individuals ready to buy products on Amazon and post 5-star reviews in exchange for a full refund.
Amazon also filed its first civil complaint in Spain against the fake review broker Agencia Reviews.
The Spanish-based operator targets sellers and customers of www.amazon.es and communicates via the instant messaging service Telegram to evade detection.
The suspected fraudster fully reimburses customers once they publish a fake 5-star review.
Amazon also sent warning letters to five websites based in Germany directing visitors to a fake review broker. All five websites have since agreed to stop this activity by signing a cease and desist letter.
A recent study suggested that some prices posted on the Amazon Prime event in October that looks marked down or labeled as discounted reflect the item's regular price.
In some circumstances, the study found, a discount might reflect a price increase.
The researchers tracked prices for nearly 15,000 products in 2016 and 2017, focusing on things like vacuum cleaners, blenders, and digital cameras that people purchase infrequently and where the price varies widely.
Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 1.14% at $113.94 in the premarket on the last check Friday.
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