Multiple Gain City outlets hit with fake 1-star reviews after being offered negative reviews removal service

Multiple Gain City outlets have been hit by some fake one-star reviews after their staff were approached by unknown individuals offering negative review removal services.

This comes after a local beauty chain, Sommar Beauty Spa, shared about a similar experience.

Showroom manager approached on WhatsApp

Gain City's Marketing Director, Candy Cao, told Mothership that the first time the electronics chain store had a run-in with the fake review people was in early April 2026.

One of their showroom managers was approached directly about the negative review removal service via WhatsApp.

In one of the messages, the person suggested that they noticed some reviews on Google Maps "that may be harming customer trust and affecting sales".

The alleged scammer then professed to specialise in identifying and reporting "policy-violating reviews".

Payment was only required after successful removal, according to them.

Nature of communication unusual: Gain City

Similar messages were later reported by staff from other locations, Cao shared.

"We found the nature of the communication unusual and chose not to engage further," Cao said.

Cao added that while Gain City had "occasionally received isolated negative reviews" in the past, they observed a "noticeable increase" in suspicious 1-star reviews over the past two weeks.

One-star reviews

Based on screenshots shared with Mothership, the reviews appeared to be one-star ratings with no comments.

According to Cao, the scam affected Gain City's Sungei Kadut megastore, and showrooms in Ang Mo Kio, Marina Square, IMM and Tampines One.

Checks on Google Maps showed that the dubious one-star reviews were a minority of other reviews recently received by Gain City.

Similar to the experience of Sommar Beauty Spa, for some of the accounts that left the reviews, the negative review for Gain City was the only review they had written on Google Maps.

Reported to Google

Gain City has since lodged a report with Google and is working with them to review the affected listings.

They have also lodged a police report.

Cao said that Gain City has a "dedicated task force" that closely monitors customer satisfaction across its "retail, service and digital touch points".

Gain City also has automated alerts for low-rated reviews as well as tools that allow the relevant teams to respond and investigate issues raised by customers.

"Legitimate reviews typically contain details relating to actual customer experiences, products, services or interactions with our staff, and we will always follow up where necessary to improve the customer experience," Cao said.

Cao also said, "We are confident that our customers can distinguish between authentic feedback and suspicious review activity."

She added, "Our priority is to ensure that our online profiles accurately reflect the experiences of real customers."