Security News > 2020 > January > Fake-review purge: Facebook boots 188 groups, eBay bans 140 shills
You guys are hosting a thriving marketplace for shills, charlatans and sockpuppets, the UK's watchdog told Facebook and eBay in June 2019, after finding over 100 eBay listings selling fake reviews and 26 Facebook groups offering to buy or sell them.
Specifically, Facebook has booted 188 groups and yanked 24 user accounts, while eBay has permanently banned 140 users.
The CMA says that after sussing out Facebook and eBay fake reviews, the watchdog went on to discover a trade in bogusness on Instagram.
We're pleased that Facebook and eBay are doing the right thing by committing to tackle this problem and helping to keep their sites free from posts selling fake reviews.
If you're looking for a hotel, in particular, you can run reviews through Review Skeptic: it's an analyzer based on Cornell University research that uses machine learning to identify fake hotel reviews with nearly 90% accuracy.