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'I keep getting the same phone case over and over': How Amazon's review system is ripe for abuse (AMZN)

Some Amazon sellers are still using tactics to game the site's review system.

  • Last week, hundreds of
  • Business Insider found a
  • Some customers are receiving products that they had not ordered.

Last week, hundreds of Amazon customers were up in arms after the retailer shut down access to their accounts without warning.

On Thursday, Amazon sent a mass email

A company spokesperson confirmed this to Business Insider in a statement on Friday: "Amazon has taken action against bad actors and those who have violated our community rules. If any customers believe their account has been closed in error, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can review their account and take appropriate action."

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Amazon is now making an aggressive push towards stamping these practices out.

Alongside this, sellers are coming up with innovative ways to get around Amazon's rules.

In February, Business Insider reported that multiple people in the US and Canada were receiving packages that they hadn't ordered. Some experts speculated that sellers could be creating fake accounts and sending products to random addresses, then leaving glowing "verified reviews."

The company said in a statement: "We have found very few reviews written on these shipments and we remove any reviews that we do find immediately. Only the sender can write a verified purchase review and still must meet the minimum requirements. The sender cannot write a review on behalf of the receiver. Our review detection systems are trained to catch this type of behavior and we will continue our ongoing efforts to detect and prevent abuse."

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But some customers — including Lorna C., an Amazon Prime member from Arizona — are still bemused by what is going on. Lorna, who asked that her last name not be used, was once a reviewer on Amazon and accepted products at a discount. But, she was barred from posting reviews on Amazon after she and her daughter duplicated a product review, which was a violation of the site’s terms.

"I got a full face snorkel mask and I live in the desert; there's no water here," Lorna said.

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