45 S'pore businesses admit to buying fake reviews from man, have to apologise publicly

A man, Julian Tung Yan Kai, has been found leaving fake reviews for about 100 businesses.

According to a press release by the Competition & Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS), Tung, the sole director of Reputifly Pte. Ltd., owns and operates the websites BuyReviewSG and GetReviewSG.

These websites offer businesses fake review services, and 45 businesses admitted to buying fake reviews from Tung.

According to CCS, this is its largest fake-review investigation to date, in terms of the number of businesses involved.

5 stars?

CCS investigations revealed that sometime on or before 2023, Tung began providing fake review services by creating and facilitating the posting of fake reviews on online review platforms.

Such platforms include Google, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Carousell, Yelp and Trustpilot.

Tung used Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) to create reviews meant to look like genuine customer experiences.

Gen AI used different writing styles and sentence structures, incorporated Singapore-specific details, and added natural imperfections to the review.

From there, clients could edit the generated reviews before posting.

Tung then refined his services into a "sophisticated" operation that introduced an online dashboard to generate, manage and track fake reviews.

The dashboard also used a business's existing four- and five-star Google reviews to generate new reviews with relevant details.

Some fake reviews also purposely describe initial reservations before "recounting" a positive experience, creating the illusion of authenticity.

The dashboard could also generate links for clients to view screenshots of the fake reviews posted for their businesses and track their order progress.

To post the fake reviews, Tung would recruit individuals using Telegram accounts and channels and would offer to pay them in exchange for posting prepared content and ratings.

The individuals were told to avoid duplicate reviews to reduce the risk of detection.

For reviews removed by online platforms, Tung would offer a replacement at 30 per cent of the price of the reviews purchased.

47 businesses

CCS investigated 47 businesses for buying fake reviews from Tung.

These businesses engaged with Tung and bought fake reviews, agreeing on the number of reviews to be posted, with the content either generated by Tung or supplied by the businesses themselves.

CCS stated that the reviews were presented as genuine reviews from customers and customers could "reasonably have been misled into believing that these businesses or their products and services were more popular or positively received than they actually were.

Of the 47, 45 admitted that they bought fake reviews from Tung.

The other two declined to provide undertakings on CCS's required terms, and CCS will continue its investigations into the two businesses.

Tung also admitted to aiding and abetting these unfair practices by generating fake review content, recruiting and paying reviewers, and taking steps to make the reviews appear authentic.

Public apology

Following CCS' investigations and interventions, the businesses were to provide undertakings to CCS and commit to ceasing the purchase or posting of fake reviews.

The businesses are to identify and remove fake reviews relating to their businesses, report their progress to CCS, and strengthen their compliance measures.

They must also publish a prominent public apology for six months on their websites, official social media accounts, and at their physical premises or outlets.

Here are the outlets involved.

As for Tung, CCS said he has committed to stop providing fake review services.

He is also to issue a public apology prominently on Reputifly's website for six months.

He also voluntarily committed to donate proceeds from his fake review services to an institution of a Public Character of his choice, and he will not claim any tax deduction for the donation.

"In the digital age, consumers increasingly rely on online reviews to decide what to buy and which businesses to trust. They should be able to expect that these reviews reflect genuine experiences, not manufactured ones," said Chief Executive of CCS, Alvin Koh.

"Fake reviews deceive consumers, distort competition and disadvantage businesses that compete honestly. Businesses should be under no illusion that paying for fake reviews is acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to profit from facilitating the creation or purchase of fake reviews; fake reviews are not a legitimate business.

CCS will pursue not only those who buy them, but also those who profit from supplying them."

CCS calls on other fake review providers, as well as businesses that have purchased fake reviews, to come forward voluntarily.

Those who do so before CCS starts its formal investigations against them will have their cooperation viewed favourably.