Combating fake reviews policy

Contents:

1. Purpose and scope

2. What we consider fake or manipulative

3. Prohibited practices

4. How we detect fake reviews

5. Enforcement measures

6. Reporting suspicious reviews

7. Incentives

8. Transparency, updates and contact

• 1.1

  This Combating Fake Reviews Policy (the “Policy”) sets out Traders Union’s (IAFT LTD) measures to detect and prevent fake, manipulative and undisclosed incentivised reviews and ratings on the Website.

• 1.2

  It applies to all reviews/ratings (UGC) and to conduct by users, companies, agencies and other third parties that may affect review integrity.

• 1.3

  This Policy should be read together with our User Reviews Policy, Terms of Use, Privacy Notice, Moderation & Removal Policy (DSA / Notice & Action) and Advertiser & Affiliate Disclosure.

• 1.4

  Review checking and labels (where used).

  We do not guarantee that every published review is verified as coming from a “real customer” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

  At present, we do not apply a formal “Verified” or “Unverified” status to all reviews published on the Website. Where such labels are used for specific sections, features, or categories of reviews, their meaning is explained on the relevant page and/or in the applicable version of the User Reviews Policy.

  Where such labels are used:

  • • “Verified” means we have obtained reasonable signals of interaction between the author and the company/service under our criteria (verification depth may vary).

  • • “Verified” does not confirm every detail of the review and does not constitute an assessment of the quality, reliability, or lawfulness of the company’s activities.

  • • “Unverified” means the review is published as a user opinion without separate confirmation of interaction.

Fake/manipulative activity includes, without limitation:

• 2.1

  Reviews not based on genuine experience.

• 2.2

  Coordinated campaigns (“review bombing”) and mass template posting.

• 2.3

  Paid or incentivised reviews without clear disclosure (money, bonuses, gifts, contests, discounts).

• 2.4

  Reviews posted by employees/contractors or marketing agencies without status/conflict disclosure.

• 2.5

  Technically inauthentic activity (bots, proxy farms, account farms), duplicates, vote manipulation, etc.

It is prohibited to:

• 3.1

  Buy/sell reviews or organise compensated posting without disclosure.

• 3.2

  Pay for removal of lawful negative reviews or demand suppression without legal grounds.

• 3.3

  Threaten or pressure authors/moderators, or abuse complaint tools to censor lawful criticism.

• 3.4

  Post reviews pretending to be customers where the content is written by a company/agency.

• 3.5

  Manipulate ratings through mass registrations or technical means.

• 3.6

  Specific prohibitions for companies/agencies.

  Companies, their representatives and contractors (including PR/marketing agencies) must not:

  • • coordinate or initiate mass review/rating posting to influence rankings;

  • • post reviews as “users” without clear status disclosure;

  • • offer incentives for reviews without proper labelling on the Website (where incentivised reviews functionality exists).

We apply proportionate measures, including (as relevant):

• 4.1

  Automated anti-spam/anti-fraud checks (patterns, duplicates, anomalies, posting velocity).

• 4.2

  Manual review of disputed cases and periodic audits.

• 4.3

  Requests for reasonable proof of experience in disputed cases (with redaction and data minimisation).

• 4.4

  Coordination signals analysis (identical texts, time spikes, repeated accounts/devices).

  We do not disclose details that could facilitate circumvention, while remaining transparent at the level of approaches.

• 4.5

  Data minimisation for proof requests.

  Where we request proof of experience, we:

  • • ask only for minimum necessary information;

  • • recommend redacting sensitive data (IDs, payment details, addresses, etc.); and

  • • process any information provided in line with our Privacy Notice.

Where fake/manipulative reviews are identified, we may:

• 5.1

  Reject a review before publication or remove/restrict visibility.

• 5.2

  Add labels/clarifications (e.g., “Unverified”, “Incentivised”, “edited for clarity” where justified).

• 5.3

  Apply account restrictions or bans for repeated breaches.

• 5.4

  Apply proportionate technical restrictions to prevent repeated abuse (for example, rate limits and other service-integrity measures).

• 5.5

  Maintain internal incident records for abuse prevention (in line with the Privacy Notice).

• 5.6

  Notices and re-review (DSA logic).

  Where a review is removed/restricted due to rule breaches or alleged illegality, we typically:

  • • document the decision and key reasons; and

  • • where we have contact details, notify the author with a brief statement of reasons and information about re-review/appeal options under our Moderation & Removal Policy (DSA / Notice & Action).

• 6.1

  Users and companies can report suspicious reviews by emailing compliance@tradersunion.com, including:

  • • URL(s);

  • • what is suspected and why;

  • • supporting evidence (if available).

• 6.2

  Notices of allegedly illegal content are handled under our Moderation & Removal Policy (DSA / Notice & Action) (including timelines, statement of reasons and appeal options).

• 7.1

  Where incentives are used, incentivised reviews must be clearly and prominently labelled as incentivised/compensated.

• 7.2

  Incentivised label placement.

  The “Incentivised” label is displayed next to the review before the text is read (e.g., above the review text) and remains visible in listings/sorting views where technically feasible.

• 7.3

  Where incentives are not permitted, incentivised/paid reviews are treated as violations.

• 8.1

  Transparency. We may aggregate statistics on detected manipulation and enforcement actions for internal control and, where needed, transparency reporting, without disclosing personal data.

• 8.2

  We may update this Policy; the date appears at the top.

• 8.3

  Contact: compliance@tradersunion.com.