Online reviews should help people and not mislead them.

If you were offered a free product on Amazon in exchange for writing a 5 star review, would you do it, or would you insist on only writing a review if you could be honest about your experience with the product?

This man is a seasoned Amazon reviewer who takes honest feedback seriously, but some shady sellers would offer him gift cards and free items in exchange for 5-star reviews.

When this happens, he has a clever way of “scamming” the scammers.

Check out the full story below for all the details.

“Sure! I’d be happy to give you a 5 star Amazon review in exchange for a gift card.”

You know all those Amazon vendors that are offering gift cards and free items in exchange for 5-star reviews?

What I do is accept offer, write the review, and get my gift card.

Then, I edit the review to one-star and explain the situation.

This man gets free products in exchange for writing good online reviews.

I started getting items in the mail like headphones or whatever.

It came with a note that offers free stuff and 10$ gift cards.

It also says this is in exchange for writing a 5-star review on Amazon.

He gets annoyed by brands that “bribe” users just so they can get positive reviews.

I’m a fairly big reviewer.

Over the years, I have written more than 2,000 legit reviews.

To me, reviews are the most useful aspect of Amazon, and nothing annoys me more than fake reviews to promote a crappy product.

So, he did his thing.

So, I said, “Screw it.”

I started writing the review. I emailed the “scammer” with a link to my review, and I got my $10 gift card.

Then, I edited the review to explicitly explain how this scammer is trying to rig the system.

He wanted to raise awareness so that customers would know what these brands do.

There’s absolutely nothing to prevent you from doing this.

Not only do you waste their time and money, but your review can help raise awareness of this trash.

That’s a great idea! Free products and honest reviews that warn others that many of the reviews are fake.

Let’s find out how others reacted to this story on Reddit.

Keep up the good work, says this person.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Uh oh! This person says Amazon might ban him, too.

Another legit Amazon reviewer speaks up.

And finally, short and sweet.

Sometimes, the best way to beat the system is by using it against the scammers.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.