Amazon.com, one of the largest online retailers, headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Amazon takes its user reviews very seriously and it filed a lawsuit against more than 1,000 people posted fake reviews on its Website.

Amazon says its brand reputation is being damaged by “false, misleading and inauthentic” reviews paid for by sellers seeking to improve the appeal of their products.

Amazon Targets Fake Reviewers:

Amazon says the 1,114 defendants, termed “John Does” as the company does not yet know their real names, offers to write a false review  on Fiverr.com, an online market where people hired for as little as $5. It also promising five-star reviews for a seller’s products.

Amazon said in its complaint, on Friday that “While small in number, these reviews can significantly undermine the trust that consumers and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s brand.”

Amazon said it conducted an extensive investigation, which included communicating with people on Fiverr.com and purchasing fake customer reviews from those people who promised five-star ratings and offered to purchaser write the review themselves.

Amazon said the lawsuit is not targeted at Fiverr, which is not a defendant in the complaint. While Fiverr website said it was working with Amazon to resolve the issue. Amazon said that it has observed that the fake review sellers attempted to avoid detection by using multiple accounts from unique IP addresses.

“We have worked closely together to remove services that violate our terms of use, and respond promptly to any reports of inappropriate content,” said Channing Barringer, a spokesman for Fiverr. Com.

As per Amazon’s website rules, while anyone can post a review whether they are a customer or not, for any product sold on the Amazon’s online store, it strictly forbids paid-for or fictional reviews.