{"id":20503,"date":"2017-04-17T09:52:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T13:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=20503"},"modified":"2017-04-17T13:54:14","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T17:54:14","slug":"the-largest-review-spam-network-ever-or-who-is-shazedur-rahman-and-why-should-you-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/17\/the-largest-review-spam-network-ever-or-who-is-shazedur-rahman-and-why-should-you-care\/","title":{"rendered":"The Largest Review Spam Network Ever Or… Who is Shazedur Rahman and why should you care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The title, The Largest Review Spam Network Ever, might seem like hyperbole. While I don’t yet know the network’s full size, it is responsible for tens if not hundreds of thousands of fake reviews. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other post0<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Now onto the more important question…<\/p>\n

Who is Shazedur Rahman<\/a> and why should you care? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Apparently she is a world traveler that purchased<\/a> her wedding ring in Israel and eight months later\u00a0hired<\/a> a PI to track her husband down in Cebu1<\/sup>. She had her cell phone fixed by the same franchise in both Toronto<\/a> & Vancouver<\/a>2<\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0procured Pest Control services in both NYC<\/a> and San Antonio<\/a>. While in Austin she had her children’s teeth examined<\/a>\u00a0but prior to doing so checked out four other dentists before she chose Dr. Melanson.<\/p>\n

Shazedur\u00a0has had her cars shipped from Seattle to Kansas City<\/a>, Portland to NYC<\/a> and from Simi Valley Ca to someplace<\/a>. Oh and for some reason she doesn’t like<\/a>3<\/sup> the cigars from Sam’s Smokes in Brisbane, Australia. Did I mention that she\u00a0studied<\/a> mortuary science in Wheeling Il.<\/p>\n

All of this and more has occurred within the last year. Truly a renaissance woman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This is a screen shot of Shazedur Rahman’s reviews around the world. Click it to view them all.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OK. I confess. She’s a review spammer. But you already figured that out.<\/p>\n

What you haven’t figured out is that she sits amidst one of the largest review spam networks I have seen and I have been unable, due to its size, to get anywhere near the end of it.<\/p>\n

Worse, I have been unable to get it removed from Google.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no<\/a> idea<\/a> how<\/a> many<\/a> fake<\/a> reviewers<\/a> are<\/a> in the<\/a> network but<\/a> every time<\/a> I click<\/a> through<\/a> to another<\/a> business<\/a> using<\/a> the service<\/a> I find<\/a> 10-20<\/a> more. They go on<\/a> and on<\/a>.4<\/sup><\/p>\n

The Pattern(s)<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you start cross checking her reviews against other reviewers you find a similar pattern of reviews over large geographic areas5<\/sup>, for\u00a0businesses that often have spammy names6<\/sup>, they are frequently in the service industries rife with spam7<\/sup>, the reviewers often review similar types of services in disparate locations8<\/sup>, and the reviews\u00a0contain conflicting life stories\u00a0and\u00a0obviously fake identities9<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

And there is\u00a0always an overlapping<\/a> of businesses that they review in common with the other reviewers. Usually any reviewer has no more than 3 reviews in common <\/a>with any one of their compatriots.<\/p>\n

While the pattern is obvious it is apparently too subtle for Google’s algos or human reviewer to spot.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Click to view and contribute to the spreadsheet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How many are there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no idea how expansive this network is but in the hours I have studied it, I have found at the very minimum a\u00a0hundred reviewers and many more\u00a0businesses10<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Life is too short to get to the end of it but if I were to guess I would put the businesses in the many hundred or perhaps\u00a0thousands and the fake reviews in the tens of thousands and maybe\u00a0in the hundred of thousands range. I don’t know the numbers other than to say that both are quite large.<\/p>\n

Time for Google to step up<\/strong><\/p>\n

Review spam at this scale, unencumbered by any Google enforcement, calls into question every review that Google has. Fake business listings are bad but businesses with 20<\/a> or 50<\/a> or 150 fake reviews<\/a> are worse. They deceive the searcher and the buying public and they stain every real review, every honest business and Google.<\/p>\n

Its time11<\/sup> to remove the bogus reviews. \u00a0In the past Google has banned the reviewers who have left the bogus reviews but I think that it is time to penalize businesses that use them as well.<\/p>\n

What good is a “real listing”12<\/sup> if the reviews are fake?<\/p>\n

0 – As a digital guy, my footnotes need to start with zero, particularly if\u00a0one has added a paragraph after all the other footnotes were done. No story is completely original. Nor is this one. I would like to thank Jason Brown<\/a> who originally pointed out the fake reviews that led me down this rabbit hole. And of course\u00a0Lemony Snicket. <\/sup><\/p>\n

1 – Where the F&*k is Cebu? Apparently an island in the Philippines.<\/sup><\/p>\n

2- For the life of me, I can’t figure out why she didn’t like <\/a>Elk Grove Wireless Repair in California. She must just like those Canadian repair folks better.<\/sup><\/p>\n

3- There is the occasional 1 star review given. I assume that these are clients that have left the service.<\/sup><\/p>\n

4- Here are some of the personas that I found. If you want to contribute to the spreadsheet, start exploring and add them here<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n