AI-generated reviews, paid Telegram reviewers: CCS busts fake review operation serving 100 businesses

Need more five-star reviews to boost your business' ratings? According to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS), one provider allegedly offered just that.

Using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated reviews, paid Telegram reviewers and even a dashboard that helped businesses manage their ratings, Julian Tung Yan Kai allegedly provided fake review services to about 100 businesses, CCS said in a media release on Wednesday (Sept 30).

The watchdog has taken action against Tung and 45 businesses that admitted to purchasing fake reviews from him.

"This is CCS’s largest fake review investigation to date with regard to the number of businesses involved," the competition watchdog said in a statement.

CCS said its investigations found that Tung, through businesses and websites he owns and operates, had provided fake review services to approximately 100 businesses, the competition watchdog said.

Tung is the sole director of Reputifly and owns the websites BuyReviewSG and GetReviewSG, through which fake review services were offered to businesses, CCS stated.

Given the scale of the case, the competition watchdog said its investigation is being conducted in two phases, with the first phase covering Tung and some 47 businesses.

The next phase will cover the remaining businesses that had allegedly procured fake review services.

Of the 47 businesses in the first phase, two have declined to provide undertakings on CCS's required terms.

"CCS will continue its investigations into the two businesses and take firmer enforcement action, if the facts support this," the competition watchdog said.

How the fake review operation worked

According to its investigations, Tung allegedly started providing fake review services sometime on or before 2023.

Businesses could purchase packages of fake reviews, which were then posted on online review platforms. The operation eventually served about 100 businesses, CCS said.

The list of 45 businesses investigated by CCS include funeral service providers security services providers. facilities management companies, hair studios, and food and beverage establishments.

Packages priced between $139 to $219 were offered to businesses, with promises such as "overtake your competitors" and "scale rapidly".

In conducting his fake review operations, Tung purportedly used generative AI to create reviews designed to resemble genuine customer experiences.

The technology was used to vary writing styles and sentence structures, incorporate Singapore-specific details, and introduce subtle imperfections.

Clients were able to edit the generated reviews before publication, CCS stated.

As the operation grew, Tung is said to have introduced an online dashboard to generate, manage and track fake reviews.

The dashboard was designed to draw on a business's existing four- and five-star Google reviews to generate new reviews containing relevant details.

"Some fake reviews deliberately described initial reservations before recounting a positive experience, creating an illusion of authenticity."

According to CCS, the dashboard could also generate links for clients to view screenshots of fake reviews that had been posted for their businesses and track the progress of their purchased package.

Tung also recruited individuals to post the fake reviews.

He allegedly used online platforms such as Telegram accounts and channels, promising payments in exchange for posting prepared content and ratings.

These individuals were instructed to avoid duplicate reviews to reduce the risk of detection.

The operation also offered to replace reviews removed by online platforms, capped at 30 per cent of the reviews purchased.

CCS said the 45 businesses that admitted to purchasing fake reviews from Tung have promised to cease such actions.

They are now required to identify and remove fake reviews relating to their businesses, report their progress to CCS, and strengthen their internal compliance measures.

In addition, the 45 businesses are required to publish a prominent public apology for six months on their websites, official social media accounts and at their physical premises or outlets.

Meanwhile, Tung, who has since admitted to aiding and abetting these unfair practices by generating fake review content, recruiting and paying reviewers, has committed to cease providing fake review services and facilitating unfair practices.

He will also be required to publish a public apology prominently on Reputifly’s website for six months.

Tung has also voluntarily committed to donate proceeds obtained from the fake review services to an Institution of a Public Character of his choice.

He will not claim any tax deduction arising from such donations.

CCS said its actions were premised on the possibility that consumers 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.

"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," the competition watchdog said.

It added that businesses should be under no illusion that paying for fake reviews is acceptable.

"CCS will pursue not only those who buy them, but also those who profit from supplying them," said CCS's chief executive Alvin Koh.

想获得更多五星好评来提升企业评分吗？据新加坡竞争与消费者委员会（CCS）称，有一家供应商涉嫌提供此类服务。

消费者保护局（CCS）周三（9月30日）发布新闻稿称，Julian Tung Yan Kai涉嫌利用人工智能（AI）生成的评论、付费的Telegram评论员，甚至还有一个帮助企业管理评分的仪表盘，向约100家企业提供虚假评论服务。

监管机构已对董先生和45家承认从他那里购买虚假评论的企业采取了行动。

“就涉及的企业数量而言，这是CCS迄今为止规模最大的虚假评论调查，”竞争监管机构在一份声明中表示。

竞争监督局表示，其调查发现董某通过其拥有和经营的企业和网站，向约100家企业提供虚假评论服务。

新加坡消费者协会（CCS）表示，董某是Reputifly的唯一董事，并拥有BuyReviewSG和GetReviewSG网站，通过这两个网站向企业提供虚假评论服务。

鉴于案件规模，竞争监管机构表示，调查将分两个阶段进行，第一阶段涵盖董建华和约 47 家企业。

下一阶段将涵盖其余涉嫌购买虚假评论服务的企业。

在第一阶段的 47 家企业中，有两家拒绝按照 CCS 要求的条款提供承诺。

“如果事实支持，CCS将继续对这两家企业进行调查，并采取更强有力的执法行动，”竞争监管机构表示。

虚假评论行动是如何运作的

据调查，董某涉嫌于 2023 年或之前开始提供虚假评论服务。

商家可以购买虚假评论套餐，然后将这些评论发布到在线评论平台上。CCS表示，这项行动最终服务了大约100家商家。

CCS调查的45家企业包括殡葬服务提供商、安保服务提供商、设施管理公司、美发沙龙以及餐饮场所。

向企业提供的套餐价格在 139 美元到 219 美元之间，并承诺“超越竞争对手”和“快速扩展规模”。

据称，Tung 在进行虚假评论操作时，使用了生成式人工智能来创建旨在模仿真实客户体验的评论。

这项技术被用来改变写作风格和句子结构，融入新加坡特有的细节，并引入细微的瑕疵。

CCS表示，客户可以在发布前编辑生成的评论。

随着业务的增长，据说 Tung 引入了一个在线控制面板来生成、管理和跟踪虚假评论。

该仪表盘旨在利用企业现有的四星和五星 Google 评论生成包含相关详细信息的新评论。

“有些虚假评论会故意描述最初的保留意见，然后再讲述积极的体验，从而营造出真实性的假象。”

据 CCS 称，该仪表盘还可以生成链接，供客户查看为其企业发布的虚假评论的屏幕截图，并跟踪其购买套餐的进度。

Tung还招募人员发布虚假评论。

据称他利用 Telegram 账户和频道等在线平台，承诺支付报酬以换取发布预先准备好的内容和评分。

这些人被指示避免重复审查，以降低被发现的风险。

该行动还提供替换被在线平台删除的评论的服务，替换比例上限为购买评论数量的 30%。

CCS表示，承认从Tung处购买虚假评论的45家企业已承诺停止此类行为。

现在，他们被要求识别并删除与其业务相关的虚假评论，向CCS报告进展情况，并加强内部合规措施。

此外，这 45 家企业还需在其网站、官方社交媒体账户以及实体店面或销售点张贴醒目的公开道歉声明，为期六个月。

与此同时，董某已承认自己通过制造虚假评论内容、招募和支付评论员等方式协助和教唆这些不公平行为，并承诺停止提供虚假评论服务和协助不公平行为。

他还将被要求在 Reputifly 的网站上显著位置发布公开道歉声明，为期六个月。

董先生还自愿承诺将从虚假评论服务中获得的收益捐赠给他选择的公共机构。

他不会就此类捐赠申请任何税收减免。

CCS表示，其行动的前提是，消费者有可能被合理地误导，认为这些企业或其产品和服务比实际情况更受欢迎或更受好评。

“在数字时代，消费者越来越依赖在线评论来决定购买什么以及信任哪些商家。他们应该能够期望这些评论反映的是真实的体验，而不是人为捏造的，”竞争监管机构表示。

报告还补充说，企业不应抱有任何幻想，认为花钱买虚假评论是可以接受的。

“CCS不仅会追究购买这些毒品的人的责任，还会追究那些从供应这些毒品中获利的人的责任，”CCS首席执行官Alvin Koh表示。