Fact CheckedLast Updated on September 23, 2020 by Stephan Lindburg
Unless you who have been hiding under a rock during the last two years, you probably know that Trustpilot has grown to become a monster in the global consumer reviews niche. This fact has not escaped the eyes of various scammers and affiliate networks who specialize in online marketing and search engine optimization tactics. This special investigative report attempts to examine the various repercussions associated with this latest trend, whilst at the same time try to understand if, how, and why spammers are manipulating this review platform to further their malicious agenda.
The Issue at Hand
After receiving a few complaints about fake reviews (SPAM) on Trustpilot, our staff of researchers started making initial inquiries and to be quite honest we believe Trustpilot has a lot of work to do when it comes to the compliance and regulatory aspects related to their reviews platform.
Research Methodology
This involved tracking and monitoring the authenticity of six separate Trustpilot reviews related to documented get-rich-quick crypto schemes which we have exposed here on our site after providing concrete and tangible proof of scam. After reading what our members had to say, we reached a certain hypothesis, which basically undermines the whole legitimacy of the Trustpilot platform.
The Sampling
Our sampling included these 6 full-blown scams which we exposed previously. We have attached links to each scam so you could see the actual proof for yourself.
The image above represents a kind of rating system. Each time a positive review was granted to a scam we gave Trustpilot a thumbs down. When the review ratings seemed to be objective we gave it a thumbs up. In total, out of the six reviews we examined three received thumbs down, two got a thumbs up, and one was indecisive so we marked it with a warning sign.
Important Findings
We noticed that the older the review was, the more genuine the ratings become. And this can be explained quite easily. At first, the spammers put up some fake testimonials and provide it with high marks. However, as time passes by we start seeing genuine reviews and testimonials by real people who got scammed. This evens things out on the overall, but we still believe Trustpilot should not allow the spammers to manipulate their platform at all since people really perceive these reviews to be real and honest.
A Grain Of Salt Combined With Smart Searching
So if you now reached the conclusion that NEW Truspilot reviews are significantly less reliable or than older ones with longer threads you have reached the right conclusion. This is the bottom line of our investigation and something your must factor in if you are researching a new trading software (along with other things).
Why Is All Of This This Happening?
As we have mentioned, Trustpilot has grown to become a monster in the consumer reviews niche and many people view their platform as a reliable source of information. Scammers understand this and use spamming techniques to whitelist their phony schemes by gaining positive exposure on various search engines such as Google or Bing.
The So-Called “Official Website”
One trick which scammers constantly use is to “own” the official website URL on the Trustpilot thread and in this way try to legitimize their website. Interestingly enough, in some cases we were able to find multiple Trustpilot threads who seem to be endorsing different URLS with the same name and design. That means competing networks (it could even be the same network using the same trick twice) are gaining both exposure as well as referrals from viewers who are reading their threads and clicking their links.
Spam On Forums and Reddit
We have also seen considerable spam on Reddit, social networks such as Facebook, and various forums. Again, we encourage all our members and viewers to be selective about the sources they obtain their information from. Only industry-focused websites from the cryptocurrency, Forex, or Finance niche will provide you with professional, credible, and actionable information.
So Is TrustPilot Trustworthy?
Initially we believed it was totally manipulated by spammers, but then as we dived in more we saw that this assumption was partially correct. So yes, when the reviews are new chances are its spam when it comes to automated trading systems reviews. However, if a thread has been around for a while you will definitely see some negative comments. So to answer the question, we recommend you don’t believe the new Trustpilot reviews. The older ones are actually more reliable, as long as not ALL of the comments are positive. People being the way they are it’s just not possible that everyone is happy with a certain software and many victims who get scammed feel a need to voice their objections if they have the option of doing it.
If you believe our investigation to be partial or lacking in any way, please make sure to reach out and message us through our contact page or social media. Additionally, we would like to point out that the opinions voiced in our investigation are strictly our own and designed for general information only. Our views in regards to Trustpilot are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any person.
