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    Some Amazon Reviews Are Too Good To Be Believed. They're Paid For

    In shadow marketplaces, positive reviews for Amazon products are bought and sold. The company says it's cracking down and that it estimates that less than 1 percent of reviews are fake.
    by Ryan Kailath Jul 30, 2018 4 minutes
    In shadow marketplaces, positive reviews for Amazon products are bought and sold. The company says it's cracking down and that it estimates that less than 1 percent of reviews are fake.

    Travis is a teenager living in a small town in the Northeast. He enjoys hunting and shooting, and keeps a rifle at home. But with several younger siblings around the house, he wanted to make sure his gun was safe. So he ordered a trigger lock on Amazon, to prevent the gun from firing.

    "The reviews were great, five-star reviews," says Travis, who asked that NPR use only his first name to avoid scrutiny and possible legal attention. "[They] said it worked great, locked perfectly, the combination system worked great."

    It didn't.

    "The combination doesn't even matter; the

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