Headley, Freedom can now reveal, has a new entry to add to her seedy résumé: front woman for an online review mill that tricks innocent customers into believing they are buying products praised by fellow customers.
Newly uncovered corporate records filed with the State of Colorado name Headley as both the registered agent and organizer of Product Reviews USA, a company trafficking in paid product reviews that deceive buyers and artificially inflate seller ratings, a practice prohibited by the FTC.
“Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors.”
Records show no other individuals linked to the company, positioning Headley as the primary architect of this deceptive venture.
Such so-called “companies” sucker unsuspecting online shoppers into buying shoddy goods. (You read the rave reviews of the product—they all praised it to the heavens—so what could possibly go wrong?) That is precisely why Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act bans “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”
But just visit Product Reviews USA and Headley’s company offers to do the “deceptive acts” for you—for a price, of course—“provid[ing] you with the reviews you need to boost your product sales.”
Headley’s company even peddles phony customer reviews in bulk: For just $80, you can buy 40. Just $90 will get you 50. Or pony up $200 and you get a five-day “campaign” with 75 “reviews”—each prepackaged with a “100% satisfaction guarantee.”
In other words, cash = stars. Every time. Guaranteed.
“Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.
The problem, of course, is that people who order products online trust and depend on these reviews to gauge whether they will be happy with the product and, therefore, will fork over their hard-earned money to buy it.
Last year, the FTC issued a final rule against phony reviews, explicitly banning “buying positive or negative reviews.”
“We’re using all available means to attack deceptive advertising in the digital age,” Samuel Levine, former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said.
“By strengthening the FTC’s toolkit to fight deceptive advertising, the final rule will protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and promote markets that are fair, honest and competitive,” Khan said.
“These bad actors operate fraudulent businesses to facilitate the publishing of fake reviews for financial gain.”
Amazon, for its part, could not be more serious about blocking reviews like those sold by Headley. “Amazon took legal action [in 2022] against over 90 bad actors around the world who facilitated fake reviews and we sued more than 10,000 Facebook group administrators that attempted to put fake reviews in our stores in exchange for money or free products,” the online shopping giant said. “As of the end of May 2023, we have already surpassed that number, taking legal action against 94 bad actors, including fraudsters in the US, China and Europe.”
When asked for comment on Product Reviews USA, the FTC Division of Advertising Practices told Freedom that “businesses that purchase reviews that they know or should know are fake may be violating the rule.” Under the regulation, a single purchase of a Headley beginner package could trigger a federal fine approaching $2 million.
“The rise of fake review brokers undermines the trust of customers and jeopardizes the success of selling partners,” Amazon said in a statement. “These bad actors operate fraudulent businesses to facilitate the publishing of fake reviews for financial gain in an attempt to mislead customers and give an unfair advantage to those willing to engage in illegal activities. Amazon takes a zero-tolerance approach to fake reviews and suspends, bans or takes legal action against those who violate its policies.”
In 2023, Amazon joined Booking.com, Expedia Group, Glassdoor, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot to form the Coalition for Trusted Reviews in an attempt to stop fake reviews from corrupting their online sales sites.
Even professional online security people have trouble spotting fake reviews, so legitimate online sites warn that customers should always take reviews with a grain of good old salty common sense.
If a company posts scads of rave reviews, all five-star, with no negative comments at all, be suspicious. If the same review name pops up from different locations, be suspicious. If the review reads like a piece of marketing material instead of like a person speaking or writing normally, be suspicious.
In fact, with players like Claire Headley in the game you should always be suspicious.
Always.
Claire Headley is, after all, the “bookkeeper” who steals from her employer, the “registered agent” who lets her own companies go delinquent, the “mother” who condones her husband’s violent abuse of women, and the “activist” who heads up a hate group named after a wife beater who described himself as a psychotic criminal and serial liar.
Product Reviews USA is not just shady—it’s deliberate, organized and tied to one person: Claire Headley. Headley isn’t some anonymous fraudster but the registered face of a Colorado company trafficking in fake reviews.
Now that regulators, platforms and shoppers know who’s behind it, the only question left is: What will they do about it?
*Claire Headley’s Product Reviews USA website remains active and available as of the date of publication of this article. Based on the delinquent status of the company, it is unclear whether it remains in operation. Headley did not respond to requests for comment.
