KATHRYN F. DEAN

Founder, Fake Review Watch

A former federal criminal investigator, Kay is an expert in researching, analyzing, and documenting online review fraud. She has identified thousands of fake reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms, and has compiled evidence of review fraud conducted by thousands of businesses. Kay has uncovered three prominent aspects of online review fraud: international and domestic brokers who sell reviews, businesses who trade reviews with each other, and networks organized by search engine optimization (SEO) companies or online marketers. The magnitude of the fraud is alarming, deceiving millions of consumers and creating unfair competition for thousands of honest businesses.

Online review fraud has become a popular method of false advertising in the 21st Century, and the failure of big tech, regulators, and law enforcement to take any serious action is eroding business ethics and harming the marketplace. A special focus of Kay's research has been on the role and culpability of the big tech companies in facilitating and concealing this fraud.

Kay's multi-year investigation has culminated in the founding of FakeReviewWatch.com and the launch of an eponymous YouTube channel. Her research has been the basis for investigative reports on fake review fraud appearing on the following: National Public Radio's Reveal program, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's evening news program The National, Washington Post, Mashable, NBC affiliates in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and the Bay Area, Vice News, and CTV News Toronto. She has been an expert contributor to stories by Swiss Radio and TV, Norwegian TV 2, and Fox 13 Tampa Bay. She has had opinion pieces published in the Toronto Star and CalMatters.

“Thank you, Ms. Dean, for all of your work—a great service to the public.” Rohit Chopra, FTC Commissioner