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Take Two

How to outsmart fake reviews online

(FILES) - This file picture taken on November 13, 2012 in Paris shows shows the "Amazon" logo. Amazon on October 3, 2013 attacked a French bill which will prevent it from offering free deliveries of discounted books to customers in France as "discriminatory." The online retailing giant also attacked the draft legislation, approved by the lower house National Assembly earlier in the day, as a blow to consumers' spending power.            AFP PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE
(FILES) - This file picture taken on November 13, 2012 in Paris shows shows the "Amazon" logo. AFP PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE
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LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

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How to outsmart fake reviews online

Amazon announced this week that it's suing more than 1,000 people who were offering to write fake reviews for pay online. It's a big problem for the retailer, as well as sites like Yelp, and research has suggested that as much as 20 percent of reviews are fake. 

Given so many of us depend on reviews to help us choose our purchases, how can we shop smartly? David Lazarus, who writes the Consumer Confidential column for the LA Times, explained why Amazon has gone after the fraudsters, and gives us ways to outsmart them.

To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.