3 ms·

So Amazon is complicit in fraud.

bsenftner 1y ago
What I don't understand is why some law firm, heavy with Ivy league predators, does not eye Amazon's fraud engine as a pot of generational gold to be taken? Sure, it will take some effort, but that's a huge pot of gold just sitting in the open with this blatant fraud in broad daylight.
- soderfoo 1y ago
  There’s an old law school adage that A students become professors, B students go to work for C students. It's similar for "shark attorneys," who will typically hail from tier 2 and 3 schools. They're the aggressive hustlers.
  - hattar 1y ago
    > There’s an old law school adage that A students become professors If I were a law school professor, I’d probably also say that.
    - csa 1y ago
      > If I were a law school professor, I’d probably also say that. Or more likely a jaded B-student who has been around the block a few times. The reason this works is that the C-students include students who have always known that their social network would facilitate them being rainmakers, while B-students are often middle-class try-hards who don’t have the right social network and don’t have the social skills to develop the right one.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
brookst 1y ago
It’s fun to be outraged but a more nuanced read is that Amazon is stuck battling all kinds of fraud and it can be hard to differentiate. They also have a massive problem with fake bad reviews where a competitor spams competing products to try to increase sales of their own. They have so many flavors of fraud that it’s very hard to get it right consistently at scale. Not am Amazon fan, and please let’s not do the Reddit “understanding something is the same as excusing it” thing.
- ziml77 1y ago
  > Not am Amazon fan, and please let’s not do the Reddit “understanding something is the same as excusing it” thing. That's a general social media thing and it's annoying as hell. Means every statement that corrects falsehoods and misconceptions against something that you yourself don't like needs to come with a disclaimer that you don't actually like it.
- like_any_other 1y ago
  You make good points, but I'm not convinced this isn't deliberate on the part of Amazon. First, Amazon deliberately keeps buyers in the dark - e.g. sellers can pay extra to avoid comingling, but Amazon gives buyers no way to find this out. Second, this kind of reckless approach to fakes is what enabled Amazon's rapid growth over traditional retailers with hand-picked, verified goods. It's not surprising they try to sweep problems with their approach under the rug. Perhaps not 'complicit', but with a reckless disregard towards fraud.
- kevincox 1y ago
  The problem is that they have an obvious incentive to err on the side of positive reviews. Because if every product on the site has a 1 star review few people will buy anything. But if most of them have 5 stars people will be much more eager to purchase.
  - grues-dinner 1y ago
    Not only that, but if you get people buying lemons from scammers, some percentage will forgo the refund process and re-engage with Amazon to buy something else: Amazon gets a cut of that too, plus more eyes on other products during that process. And even if there is refund, the platform will get that money back from the seller anyway.
  - brookst 1y ago
    For a one-shot game, sure. But when people buy a 5-star product that sucks and return it, Amazon loses money. Amazon is better off having low ratings for products that are returned more.
- 1y ago
deleted 1y ago
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Moto7451 1y ago
Amazon does have the Vine program so if companies want to have a legitimate free product review program they can opt in. I’m in Vine and we’re supposed to leave a review based on using the product, take photos, etc. If anything goes wrong we are not supposed to send the product back, return it, etc. The sellers can’t contact us and if we do we’re supposed to report it. The automated “did you get the product” are fine but it’s not ok for them to bribe us.
DrillShopper 1y ago
Facilitating fraud. Didn't Napster get buttfucked for "facilitating" piracy? Should have been owned by Bezos so they'd be immune from laws that affect only mere mortals.
Shypangz 1y ago
It’s tough dealing with fraud issues online. You might want to check out hifivestar for keeping track of reviews and spotting red flags. It helped me stay on top of suspicious activity more easily.

What I don't understand is why some law firm, heavy with Ivy league predators, does not eye Amazon's fraud engine as a pot of generational gold to be taken? Sure, it will take some effort, but that's a huge pot of gold just sitting in the open with this blatant fraud in broad daylight.

soderfoo 1y ago
There’s an old law school adage that A students become professors, B students go to work for C students. It's similar for "shark attorneys," who will typically hail from tier 2 and 3 schools. They're the aggressive hustlers.
- hattar 1y ago
  > There’s an old law school adage that A students become professors If I were a law school professor, I’d probably also say that.
  - csa 1y ago
    > If I were a law school professor, I’d probably also say that. Or more likely a jaded B-student who has been around the block a few times. The reason this works is that the C-students include students who have always known that their social network would facilitate them being rainmakers, while B-students are often middle-class try-hards who don’t have the right social network and don’t have the social skills to develop the right one.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

brookst 1y ago

It’s fun to be outraged but a more nuanced read is that Amazon is stuck battling all kinds of fraud and it can be hard to differentiate. They also have a massive problem with fake bad reviews where a competitor spams competing products to try to increase sales of their own. They have so many flavors of fraud that it’s very hard to get it right consistently at scale. Not am Amazon fan, and please let’s not do the Reddit “understanding something is the same as excusing it” thing.

ziml77 1y ago
> Not am Amazon fan, and please let’s not do the Reddit “understanding something is the same as excusing it” thing. That's a general social media thing and it's annoying as hell. Means every statement that corrects falsehoods and misconceptions against something that you yourself don't like needs to come with a disclaimer that you don't actually like it.
like_any_other 1y ago
You make good points, but I'm not convinced this isn't deliberate on the part of Amazon. First, Amazon deliberately keeps buyers in the dark - e.g. sellers can pay extra to avoid comingling, but Amazon gives buyers no way to find this out. Second, this kind of reckless approach to fakes is what enabled Amazon's rapid growth over traditional retailers with hand-picked, verified goods. It's not surprising they try to sweep problems with their approach under the rug. Perhaps not 'complicit', but with a reckless disregard towards fraud.
kevincox 1y ago
The problem is that they have an obvious incentive to err on the side of positive reviews. Because if every product on the site has a 1 star review few people will buy anything. But if most of them have 5 stars people will be much more eager to purchase.
- grues-dinner 1y ago
  Not only that, but if you get people buying lemons from scammers, some percentage will forgo the refund process and re-engage with Amazon to buy something else: Amazon gets a cut of that too, plus more eyes on other products during that process. And even if there is refund, the platform will get that money back from the seller anyway.
- brookst 1y ago
  For a one-shot game, sure. But when people buy a 5-star product that sucks and return it, Amazon loses money. Amazon is better off having low ratings for products that are returned more.
1y ago

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

Moto7451 1y ago

Amazon does have the Vine program so if companies want to have a legitimate free product review program they can opt in. I’m in Vine and we’re supposed to leave a review based on using the product, take photos, etc. If anything goes wrong we are not supposed to send the product back, return it, etc. The sellers can’t contact us and if we do we’re supposed to report it. The automated “did you get the product” are fine but it’s not ok for them to bribe us.

DrillShopper 1y ago

Facilitating fraud. Didn't Napster get buttfucked for "facilitating" piracy? Should have been owned by Bezos so they'd be immune from laws that affect only mere mortals.

Shypangz 1y ago

It’s tough dealing with fraud issues online. You might want to check out hifivestar for keeping track of reviews and spotting red flags. It helped me stay on top of suspicious activity more easily.