PromoSalento was a business based in Lecce, in southern Italy's Puglia region, that offered hospitality businesses a simple service: fabricated TripAdvisor reviews using fake identities to artificially boost their rankings.
The investigation
In 2015, TripAdvisor's fraud investigation team identified PromoSalento and tracked its operations. Over the course of its investigation, TripAdvisor identified and blocked or removed more than 1,000 fraudulent review submissions targeting hundreds of different properties. TripAdvisor joined the prosecution as a civil claimant, sharing evidence and providing Italian legal counsel.
The verdict
The Criminal Court of Lecce found the owner guilty of using fake identities to commit fraud, based on the EU's 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The sentence: 9 months in prison and approximately €8,000 in costs and damages.
"Writing fake reviews has always been fraud, but this is the first time we've seen someone sent to jail as a result."
— Brad Young, VP and Associate General Counsel, TripAdvisor
What this case reveals
The PromoSalento case was described as "a landmark ruling for the Internet" — the first criminal prison sentence anywhere in the world specifically for creating fake online reviews. It established that fake reviews aren't just unethical — they're criminal fraud. Yet the question remains: if only one person has gone to prison worldwide, is the deterrent strong enough?