Amazon Review Hijacking: The Truth Behind Fake Reviews

Review hijacking can hurt your reputation, decrease your rankings, and diminish sales. 

 

 

79% of U.S. shoppers say they read reviews to make a purchasing decision. So, your Amazon reviews are one of the most influential parts of the buying journey. That’s why review fraud is one of the most damaging Amazon seller scams. 

 

There are different types of review fraud, with review hijacking among the most damaging. While fake reviews aren’t always easy to identify, they can not only damage a brand’s reputation but also tarnish consumer trust.

 

What is Amazon Review Hijacking?

Review hijacking is when fraudsters take over an ASIN or listing to leave fake product reviews. These are usually from competitors who aim to commit product listing suppression or use your listings to promote their brand.

 

How do fraudsters hijack reviews? It’s simple, anyone can leave a review on your Amazon products. The seller will write a fake review and may include information about their products as an alternative.

 

Review hijacking is similar to listing hijacking, in which a seller takes over your ASIN and lists a counterfeit product. As a result, this can lead to negative reviews and a decrease in sales.

 

Review hijacking often gets confused with review manipulation, which is another form of review fraud. This is when sellers compel users, usually with incentives (a free product or money), to post a review.

 

What’s the main difference between review hijacking and manipulation? With hijacking, the seller’s reviews are getting defrauded by a third party for the fraudster’s gain. Through manipulation, the sellers are fraudulently manipulating their own reviews for their own gain.

 

 

Why Review Hijacking Is a Major Risk

Fake reviews harm sellers by eroding customer trust, damaging product rankings, and reducing revenue. Review hijacking will also mislead customers, impacting not only the sellers but also Amazon. In short, if buyers can’t trust an Amazon seller, they will not purchase any item.

 

Even with Amazon’s efforts, review fraud still occurs. 82% of shoppers encounter a fake review every 12 months, so sellers must be vigilant in monitoring their reviews and reporting any suspicious ones.

 

So, who is targeted? Fraudsters and competitors will target high-volume brands because of their visibility and revenue. Positive reviews are linked to high conversion rates and excellent SEO performance, which in turn lead to a positive standing among customers.

 

Here are the main challenges that review hijacking poses for sellers:

• Decreased SEO rankings. Amazon’s algorithm ranks sellers based on sales, relevance, and overall performance. Too many negative reviews can cause a seller’s listings to get buried beneath competitors.

• Buy box ineligibility. Consistent positive reviews and ratings will put a seller one step closer to winning the Buy Box. If a seller has too many negative reviews, that will tarnish this opportunity.

• Inflated ad costs. If bad reviews are impacting a seller’s performance, they could pay more to advertise against competitors.

• Reputation risks. A product with negative reviews will appear less trustworthy, damaging a brand’s reputation.

• Lower conversion rates. If a potential customer reads a negative review, they are more likely to support a competitor. This leads to an overall decrease in conversion rates.

• Account penalties. If a seller has too many negative reviews, they may face Amazon account suspension or termination.

 

Related content: How to Protect Your Brand on Amazon

 

How Fake Review Networks Operate

While competitors are often the ones at fault for review hijacking, is the CEO searching Amazon for other brands that are performing better? Not exactly. 

 

Instead, these companies may recruit individuals or third parties, such as review brokers or paid review groups, to leave fake negative feedback. 

 

These negative reviews are incentivized, either with money compensation or a product swap. The companies use messaging and social media platforms, notably Telegram and WhatsApp, to send product information and instructions.

 

How Amazon Detects and Fights Fake Reviews

Amazon has a zero-tolerance policy for review hijacking. Not only do they have a firm anti-manipulation policy, but they also use AI to process thousands of data points in a review before it goes live on a listing.

 

Their actions have become legal recently. In 2025, Amazon seized control of 75 domains that market five-star reviews. And in February of this year, Amazon filed a lawsuit against two additional companies that sell fake reviews.

 

There’s more good news for sellers: Amazon will remove any suspicious reviews, as also outlined in the anti-manipulation policy. While Amazon may automatically remove it, sellers can also request its removal (we’ll discuss this more later).

 

 

Warning Signs on Your Listings

While spotting hijacked reviews may seem impossible, there are clear patterns sellers can recognize. Here are some effective detections:

• Sudden spikes in reviews. A common warning sign is a surge of one-star reviews overnight.

• Irrelevant content. If the review doesn’t match the product, it’s likely a sign of review fraud. An example is a review like “this makeup wasn’t good” on a frying pan listing.

• Referencing a different product. This should especially not be ignored, as it signals that a seller is likely trying to divert shoppers from your listings.

• Rating volatility. While sellers shouldn’t solely rely on review scores, a sudden dip in overall rating can signal something suspicious.

• Bad-quality reviews. While reviewers aren’t necessarily the best writers, there are common knowledge mistakes that customers wouldn’t make. These include brief reviews with no details, spelling/grammar errors, and reviews that are clearly AI-generated.

• No Verified Purchase label. If a reviewer purchases many products and posts a lot of feedback, Amazon will reward them with the Verified Purchase label.

• Reviewer with no other reviews. Devoted Amazon customers likely have several public reviews on their account. If you click a user’s name and don’t see any other reviews, this can signal fraud.

 

How to Protect Your Brand

Protecting your brand includes preventing review hijacking and knowing how to act when it happens. Here are the best practices to implement:

• Monitor your reviews. Regularly review and analyze the uploaded text, images, and videos. Note any reviews that are suspicious.

• Sign up for Brand Registry. The Amazon Brand Registry program is a free service that allows sellers to upload unique identifiers, such as trademarks, and report sellers who are infringing on their IP or products.

•  Maintain listing integrity. With high-quality listings, sellers can more effectively identify fraudulent reviewers. Ensure your listings are authentic with branded content and your logo on all visuals. This not only sets your listings apart but can prevent fraud and trademark infringement.

• Reporting suspicious activity to Amazon. The best way to handle review hijacking is by reporting the reviewer to Amazon. Under a review, you’ll see a Report button. Click that, offer your feedback, and click submit.

• Following a compliant review generation method. What if you need to increase reviews? There are several methods compliant with Amazon’s guidelines. Examples include Amazon Vine, the Request a Review option, and package inserts.

 

Related content: How to Prevent Review Downgrades

 

Building a Sustainable Review Strategy

Review hijacking can diminish a seller’s performance, decrease sales, and tarnish consumer trust. But with the right sales strategies, sellers can sustain growth while protecting against fraudsters. 

 

That’s because customer experience is at the forefront of robust, positive reviews. This will require a combination of selling high-quality products, brand protection, advertising, optimizing listings, effective communication tactics, and improving operations.

Review management and protection take a lot of work. However, this is part of a larger Amazon selling strategy. Take a look at our Accelerator Program to learn how we can grow and protect your brand

Is review hijacking the same as review manipulation?

Review hijacking is a type of review manipulation. However, most types of review manipulation are committed by the seller to improve their Amazon rankings, gain customer trust, and increase sales. Review hijacking is different, since it’s when a third party manipulates another seller’s reviews.

Can I remove fraudulent reviews from my Amazon listing

The only way to remove fake reviews is by reporting it to Amazon. If Amazon confirms it’s fake, they will remove the review for you.

Is there any way I can prevent review hijacking?

Effective tactics to prevent review hijacking include undergoing trademark registration, enrolling into Amazon Brand Registry, adding more branding to your listing, and setting up fraud alerts (you’ll need a third-party tool). Bundling products will also throw fraudsters off.