Through the letterbox: the secret life of an Amazon reviewer

Who are the people writing the thousands of 'fair and unbiased' reviews? Do they get paid? Not quite

Fake reviews on Amazon can't be trusted as they're biased, or at least that's what recent reports claim. But who are the people behind these thousands of reviews, how did they get into it all and are the so-called incentivised reviews really fake?

There are two types of solicited reviews on Amazon. The retailer has its own Vine programme, recruiting writers of highly ranked reviews marked as helpful by others on Amazon, and then pitches them products that vendors have sought reviews of, acting as the middle man. Vine reviews are clearly marked up on Amazon's site with Vine branding.