Fake Reviews? Here’s How to Defend Your Amazon Listing
Getting hit with a 1-star review can tank your product... Make sure to protect yourself
Launch a product. Get hit with a 1-star review before you’ve even shipped anything.
If you’ve been selling on Amazon for any length of time, you know the review game isn’t always fair. Behind the scenes, some sellers are using burner accounts, hate speech, and fake verified purchases to sabotage the competition. It’s shady, frustrating, and becoming more common.
In this post, we’re breaking down how fake reviews work, what Amazon actually allows you to do about them, and how to protect your listing, especially during a new product launch.
🧨 Reviews Are a Weapon
Fake reviews aren’t just annoying.
They’re strategic. For your competitors, they can be an effective way to slow down your momentum, tank your star rating, and crush your conversion rate.
Here’s how it usually works:
A competitor spots your new product during launch
They purchase it using a burner account (or several)
They leave a vague or harsh 1-star review like “This sucks” or “Worst product ever”
They use the same account to leave 5-star reviews on their own product
This tactic, often called “sock puppet” reviewing, is common in high-margin categories.
Why? Because the lifetime value of a single customer is huge. If they can knock you off the page, they win.
🧾 What Amazon Will Remove
Despite what many sellers believe, Amazon will remove reviews in specific cases.
They’ll take action on reviews that:
Contain profanity or hate speech
Mention pricing, competitors, or shipping issues outside your control
Come from accounts with suspicious behavior
Are vague and nonconstructive like “this product sucks”
If a review meets these criteria and you file a clear, well-documented case, Amazon may remove it.
⚠️ What NOT to Do
Here’s what won’t work:
Writing emotional messages like “Amazon, this is my livelihood.”
Submitting vague or unstructured complaints
Spamming Seller Support every day
Instead, focus on filing like a professional:
Be direct and factual
Cite the specific guideline that the review violates
Show your evidence
Be persistent, not emotional
🔎 Use This Free Tool to Scan Your Reviews
TraceFuse created a free Amazon Review Checker that scans your ASINs and flags reviews that break the rules. It generates a report you can use to file with Amazon.
👉 Check your ASINs now: https://tracefuse.ai/amazon-review-checker
💡 Review Defense Is Not Optional
If you’re serious about selling on Amazon, review defense needs to be part of your playbook. Your competitors might not play fair, but that doesn’t mean you can’t respond with smart, ethical strategy.
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