Trustpilot Fake Reviews and the Business of Buying Stars — What SafePaper Found

Trustpilot is one of the most visible review platforms online. But visibility doesn’t mean reliability, especially in 2025

Fake reviews have become routine. The Transparency Company flagged over 2.3 million likely AI-generated reviews in 2024 alone. Many follow the same pattern: vague praise, no detail, recycled phrases like “excellent service” or “fast and easy.”

Some of these reviews are bought. Freelancers openly offer “5-star Trustpilot reviews” on marketplaces, while companies pay for tools like TrustBox to filter out anything below four stars. According to Trustpilot, 7.4% of reviews were removed last year, most for fraud or policy violations.

This isn’t just noise. When star ratings influence what tools we trust, especially for security or privacy, fake positivity creates real risk. That’s where SafePaper’s Trustpilot review findings come in. 

Why Trustpilot Scores Can Mislead Privacy Tool Buyers

In most categories, fake reviews might lead to a disappointing product. But for tools that promise to protect your data, like VPNs, antivirus apps, and password managers, the stakes are higher.

These tools promise data protection. But when their Trustpilot pages are filled with unverifiable praise, or worse, built on uploaded user emails, users may trust services that quietly compromise privacy. 

That’s what makes review manipulation especially risky here. And SafePaper’s latest investigation reveals just how deep the problem goes.

What SafePaper Found: How Companies Shape Their Trustpilot Scores

SafePaper’s investigation shows that Turstpilot reviews don’t just reflect customer opinion, they can be actively shaped through paid tools, moderation loopholes, and aggressive sales tactics. Below are the key patterns SafePaper identified across privacy-related services like VPNs.

Buying 5-Star Reveiws Through Freelance Marketplaces

SafePaper found dozens of sellers on Freelancer offering bulk “5-star Trustpilot reviews.” These reviews tend to follow simple templates (“great service,” “excellent support”), and come from near-empty accounts, and still boost a company’s TrustScore.

For new or aggressive VPN brands, this creates a fast way to inflate reputation without improving security or transparency.

Filtering Our Criticism Using TrustBox Widgets

Paid Trustpilot subscribers can embed TrustBox on their websites and filter it to show only 4- or 5-star reviews. SafePaper noted that many privacy tool websites display only positive snippets, even when their full Trustpilot profile contains recent complaints.

To a first-time user, the service may look universaly praised, even when the full picture is mixed.

Uploading User Emails to Generate “Verified” Reviews

Two of Trustpilot’s “verified review” methods require businesses to upload customer email lists or forward purchase receipts. SafePaper flagged this as a direct conflict for VPNs that advertise no-logs policies.

A review marked “verified” may simply mean a VPN provider uploaded private user data, not that reviewer is more trustworthy.

Review Deletion and Moderation

SafePaper’s report pointed to repeated cases of Trustpilot removing both negative and positive reviews, often without any explanation. On Reddit, users said their detailed 1-star feedback was deleted even after submitting transaction proof. Others reported that legitimate 5-star reviews disappeared soon after the business declined to upgrade to a paid account.

These incidents may not follow a consistent pattern, but they raise flags about how moderation, revenue, and review visibility intersect. For security-conscious users, some negative reviews may be hidden, not due to inaccuracy, but because they conflict with how Trustpilot earns money.

Sales Pressure and Platform Economics: Who Gets Seen, and Who Pays

Multiple businesses said that Trustpilot’s sales outreach became aggressive after they declined a paid plan. Some reported being contacted “a dozen times a week.” One company claimed that after turning down sales repeatedly, positive reviews started vanishing.

Even for companies that do pay, the price may not stay stable. SafePaper highlighted a case where a VPN provider saw its monthly fee increase by nearly 500% after gaining just a few hundred reviews. For smaller security tools or privacy startups, that kind of price jump could make long-term visibility unsustainable.

In short: what gets seen, and what gets hidden, may depend not just on product quality, but on what a brand is willing to pay.

Paid Accounts Can Hide Competitors Entirely

On a free Trustpilot profile, four competing services appear under “People also looked at.”

But SafePaper found that paid accounts can disable competitor visibility entirely. This makes it harder for users to compare alternatives, subtly steering them toward paid clients. This further blurs the line between “reputation platform” and “pay-to-maintain trust.”

Trustpilot’s Model: Legal, Profitable, and Still Problematic

Trustpilot isn’t a scam. It’s a publicly listed company, registered in Denmark, with real users and published community guidelines. It also discloses that it removes millions of reviews per year, over 7% fo submissions, for suspected fraud or violations.

But SafePaper’s analysis shows that legitimacy doesn’t guarantee fairness, especially when the platform’s business model introduces structural bias.

Trustpilot makes money by selling features to the very businesses being reviewed. In practice, this means companies can pay to amplify praise and downplay criticism, all while appearing “verified” and transparent.

The platform’s moderation process is also opaque. While Trustpilot claims to fight fake reviews aggressively, some complaints suggest that review visibility may be influenced by whether a company is a paying client.

The result is, Trustpilot is a platform that’s legal, profitable, and widely used, but still vulnerable to manipulation. And for users choosing tools that protect their privacy, that’s a risk worth understanding.

A Checklist for Reading Trustpilot Reviews Like a Security Pro

Use the checklist below to be spot potential manipulation and avoid falling for artificially inflated scores, especially when evaluating security and privacy tools.

What to Check	What to Look For
Is the praise specific, or just generic?	Does the review mention actual features, problems solved, or support quality?
Do recent reviews spike unnaturally?	Are there many 5-star reviews in a short period, with similar tone or structure?
Do reviewer profiles look authentic?	Do reviewers have profile photos, bios, or other reviews?
What does “verified” really mean here?	Was the review verified via business-uploaded emails or receipts?
Is the Trustpilot widget showing the full picture?	Does the embedded widget only show positive quotes?
Are competitors visible on the profile?	Is there a “People also looked at” section?
Is the business responding, or silent?	Are there thoughtful replies to reviews, especially negative ones?
Does the review content match your concerns?	Do reviews mention what you care about, like speed, security, or support?

Trust Signals Aren’t All Equal

Trustpilot is useful, but only if you understand what it shows and what it doesn’t. 

SafePaper’s research makes one thing clear: Trustpilot’s review system reflects both opinion and incentives. That doesn’t mean you should stop using Trustpilot, just that it shouldn’t be the only voice you listen to.

Combine it with technical reviews, transparency reports, privacy audits, and real testing data. Check what’s said, who’s saying it, and what might be left out. Look for patterns, not just praise.

About SafePaper

SafePaperis an independent digital privacy publication based in the U.S., focused on trustworthy, no-fluff guides for everyday internet users. Its team of researchers manually tests VPNs, browsers, and privacy tools to help users stay safe, stay informed, stay free.

Media Contact: Paige West
Email: support@safepaper.io
SOURCE: SafePaper