Fake reviews:
A 2012 study from IT research analysts Gartner found that 10 to 15 per cent of reviews on social media are fake.
Last year, New York state cracked down on fake reviews, setting up a fake business and buying fake reviews in a sting operation dubbed Operation Clean Turf. It fined 19 businesses a total of $ 350,000 US.Review sites like Yelp and Google say they do what they can to delete fake reviews.In a statement to Marketplace, Google said that the company takes down thousands of suspicious reviews every month, but "there is a small subset of bad apples out there. "
Fake You Tube views:
In December 2012, YouTube stripped almost two billion fake views from music videos from major labels including Universal, Sony / BMGand RCA.In February, Google, which owns YouTube, announced that it was increasing efforts to audit video views and remove fake views from the site.
Fake Twitter followers:
Last year, Italian security researchers Andrea Stroppa and Carlo DeMicheli researched fake Twitter followers. They estimated that four per cent - or 20 million - of Twitter accounts were fake.According to the researchers, fake Twitter accounts have become a multimillion-dollar businessResearch by internet security analysts at Barracuda Labs found that as of the end of 2013, there were 52 sellers on eBay selling fake Twitter followers, a number that more than doubled in roughly six months.
Fake Facebook Likes and accounts:
Facebook is another platform popular for posers. The company estimates that as many as 1.2 per cent of accounts are fake, but with 1.2 billion active monthly users, that number represents as many as 14 million fake accounts.
Like many other sites, Facebook says it tries to crack down on fakers "Fraudulent activity is bad for everyone - including page owners, advertisers, Facebook and people on our platform," wrote Facebook site integrity engineer Matt Jones in a blog post last month.
"We adapt our defences constantly to stay ahead of spammers' techniques, and one area we've focused on for several years is fake likes."
Hancock says that while some reviews are fake, many are honest and useful.
"Most businesses really want to provide a genuine service; most businesses are real, "he says.
"The ones that do take the risk and they're desperate and buy some fake support, some fake reviews, some fake likes, this is not going to be a long-term business.
"It's going to damage the reputation in the long run. If I had one piece of advice, not for the consumers but for business owners, do not do it. It's too easy to get caught. One of the main things with deception on the internet: it leaves a record. “
And just remember: If there's a lot of excessive punctuation and overly positive language in a review, put on your skeptical specs.
