Are fake online reviews an ethical or criminal problem?
One way to know whether a product or service is of a good quality is to check online for reviews. For business owners, the ultimate expectation is to have many excellent reviews written by customers. The best reviews will praise the company for its excellent service, great prices, and brilliant quality.
Presently we are living in the era of opinions. Thanks to the online platform, everyone's voice can be heard - at least for a few seconds between two hyped out infotainment stories and tired top ten lists littered with annoying pictures. Not to mention the constant dissonance of social media: but that's democracy, right? But (or maybe luckily) nobody cares" It's on the internet, so it has to be true!
Perhaps nothing has made us more cynical than the persistent barrage of fake online reviews, be it in the form of forum posts, blog comments, or obviously slanted review sites. Even social media "influencers" are now viewed with suspicion, having learned of a tremendous amount of money that celebrities are paid by the companies just because they casually mention their products.
You may think that the problem with online reviews is that you have no idea about the auditor's qualifications or his knowledge of the product he is reviewing, and you are right. After all, there are some people who just cannot be satisfied, no matter what you do! And the person leaving an anonymous review may, or may not be the expert in the subject he is reviewing does that just fake review legal?
You may also think that the problem with online reviews is that only negative reviews are ever written because a customer who is content with a service or product he has purchased is less likely to publicize his satisfaction - and you're right.". Online reviews are statistically slanted to present more negative than positive opinions.
Then again, can you ever trust a positive review online? The person who gives a positive rating may indeed be a satisfied customer ... or someone who has been paid to sing his praises!"
Realistically, Let's ask ourselves this question are fake reviews legal? In terms of the question ‘Are fake reviews legal?’, the short answer is ‘no’. Although publishing a false review, or not including negative reviews may not seem like a big problem, deliberately tricking your clients could put you in violation of the"2015 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, resulting in severe punishment.
