Fake Amazon Reviews Have Been A Problem For A Long Time. Now The FTC Is Finally Cracking Down.

The Federal Trade Commission brought its first successful case against an online company for buying fake Amazon reviews to sell a shoddy product. The agency filed its complaint on February 19, and reached a settlement that included a $12.8 million fine on the 26th. It’s the Platonic ideal of a modern scam: The defendant is a company called Cure Encapsulations, which is based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and owned by a man who alternately goes by Naftula Jacobowitz, Nat Jacobs, and Nate Jacobs. The product in question is a purported weight loss supplement and appetite suppressant made from the Indonesian fruit garcinia cambogia (the fruit looks like a tiny green pumpkin and is associated with liver failure). Read more at Vox.