CCS investigates fake online reviews in Singapore
CCS: 45 SG businesses face action requiring public apologies over fake online reviews; 100 were caught using fake review services
Summary
CCS is investigating around 100 businesses linked to a fake review provider in its largest probe of this kind to date.
The first phase covers 47 businesses, with 45 admitting to buying fake reviews and agreeing to CCS’s enforcement requirements.
Reputifly Pte. Ltd. must stop providing fake review services, publish an apology for six months and donate proceeds from the service.
SINGAPORE: The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) has taken action against 45 businesses that admitted buying fake reviews from a provider linked to Reputifly Pte. Ltd.
The businesses must stop procuring or posting fake reviews, identify and remove existing fake reviews, strengthen their compliance measures, and report their progress to CCS.
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. The businesses involved range from restaurants and hair salons to doctors, lawyers, and tuition agencies.
CCS investigates around 100 businesses in its largest fake review case
The case is CCS’s largest fake review investigation by the number of businesses involved. The wider investigation covers approximately 100 businesses that obtained fake review services from the provider.
CCS is handling the investigation in two phases. The first phase covers 47 businesses. Of these, 45 admitted purchasing fake reviews and provided undertakings to CCS. The other two businesses declined to provide undertakings on CCS’s required terms. CCS said investigations into those companies will continue, with firmer enforcement action possible if the facts support it.
The remaining businesses linked to the provider fall within the second phase. CCS hasn’t publicly named all of those businesses because the figure of around 100 doesn't mean CCS has announced 100 businesses facing enforcement action.
45 businesses named by CCS
The 45 businesses that admitted purchasing fake reviews are:
1. Apax Medical Kovan Pte Ltd
2. Apax Medical Pte Ltd
3. Aqua Luxe Pte Ltd
4. Atop Aesthetic Pte Ltd
5. Bavarian Capital Pte Ltd
6. BrandLoom Digital Private Limited
7. Certified Translation Services
8. Chrysalis Spa Pte Ltd
9. Data Savers Pte Ltd
10. Dots ’n’ Tots Interior Pte Ltd
11. FAS Auto Services Pte Ltd
12. First Security & Private Investigation (S) Pte Ltd
13. For the Love of Laundry Pte Ltd
14. Forest Darts Bishan Pte Ltd
15. Groupasia Hospitality Pte Ltd
16. Harmony Essentials Pte Ltd
17. Harmony Funeral Care Pte Ltd
18. Haven Enterprises Pte Ltd
19. Haven Tech Pte Ltd
20. Hiremop Pte Ltd
21. Integral Facilities Management (IFM) Pte Ltd
22. J & S Management Pte Ltd
23. Kuisine Koncepts Pte Ltd
24. L E Autoshop Pte Ltd
25. Label-Line Corporation Pte Ltd
26. Le Wave Art of Hair Pte Ltd
27. Le Wave Hair Pte Ltd
28. Le Wave Hair Studio Pte Ltd
29. Martin Luxury Pte Ltd
30. MB Karaoke Solution Pte Ltd
31. Meso Ceramics
32. Nails In Dulge Pte Ltd
33. Nanyang Brew Coffee
34. Picasso Hair Boutique Pte Ltd
35. Play! Ball Pte Ltd
36. Play! Tennis Now LLP
37. Print Scream Pte Ltd
38. Sanook Group Pte Ltd
39. SBLab Beauty Pte Ltd
40. The Hamper Story Pte Ltd
41. TM Designers Pte Ltd
42. Torio Japanese Restaurant Pte Ltd
43. TT8 Logistics Pte Ltd
44. UniWise Admissions Consulting Pte Ltd
45. Yeo & Associates LLC
CCS hasn’t yet identified the two businesses that declined its undertakings.
Fake review operation worked by using AI-generated reviews, paid posters and online dashboard
CCS said Julian Tung Yan Kai, the sole director of Reputifly Pte. Ltd., provided fake review services through businesses and websites he owned or operated.
The services were offered through BuyReviewSG and GetReviewSG sometime in or before 2023.
Businesses could purchase packages of fake reviews to be posted at set intervals. One package offered 35 five-star reviews over seven days for S$219.
BuyReviewSG also provided a rating calculator. Businesses could use it to estimate how many five-star reviews they needed to reach a desired Google rating.
The operation later became more sophisticated. Generative AI was used to produce reviews designed to resemble genuine customer experiences. The system could vary writing styles and sentence structures, add Singapore-related details, and introduce small imperfections.
Clients could edit the generated reviews before publication. The provider later introduced an online dashboard to generate, manage and track fake reviews. It could also draw on existing four- and five-star Google reviews to create new posts with relevant details.
Some reviews were deliberately written to include an initial reservation before describing a positive experience. CCS said this was intended to create an appearance of authenticity.
The provider also recruited people through Telegram accounts and channels. They were paid to use their accounts to post prepared review content and ratings. Individuals were told to avoid duplicate reviews to reduce the chance of detection.
The service even offered replacements when reviews were removed by online platforms, capped at 30 per cent of the reviews purchased.
Reputifly Pte. Ltd. must apologise to the public and stop providing fake reviews
Reputifly admitted to aiding and abetting unfair practices by generating fake review content, recruiting and paying people to post it, and taking steps to make the reviews appear genuine.
The company has agreed to stop providing fake review services and facilitating such practices. It must also publish a prominent public apology on Reputifly’s website for six months.
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The company has voluntarily agreed to donate proceeds obtained from its fake review services to an Institution of a Public Character of its choice.
The 45 businesses face their own requirements. They must remove fake reviews relating to their businesses, report their progress to CCS and strengthen their compliance measures. Their public apologies must remain prominent for six months on their websites, official social media accounts and at their physical premises or outlets.
Fake reviews can affect how consumers choose businesses
CCS said businesses presented the purchased reviews as genuine customer experiences. This fabrication can affect how consumers judge a company's popularity, reputation and products or services.
The fake review case also shows how AI has changed the mechanics of fabricated online content. Producing something that looks natural is now easier, while tools can help businesses manage large numbers of reviews.
Comparing reviews across different platforms can help consumers spot unusual patterns.
CCS calls on other businesses with fake reviews or those that provide such services to come forward
CCS has urged other fake review providers and businesses that have bought such services to come forward voluntarily.
Those who come forward before CCS begins formal investigations against them may have their cooperation viewed favourably. Details of such practices can be provided at this link: https://go.gov.sg/ccsresponse
The commission also said it will pursue both businesses that buy fake reviews and those that profit from supplying them.
For consumers, a five-star rating is only useful when the experience behind it is real. A business earns trust one customer at a time. Paying someone to manufacture that trust can make a five-star rating look good, but it tells shoppers much less than they think.
Read related: Fake 5-star reviews for S$5 per post: 6 Singapore businesses were caught falsely boosting their online ratings