Sunday Riley Scandal: Skincare Company Settles With FTC After Posting Fake Reviews

Skincare company Sunday Riley has officially settled its case with the Federal Trade Commission after it found to have posted fake positive reviews on Sephora’s website in an effort to boost sales. While not admitting to any wrongdoing, the company agreed to cease posting the fabricated reviews and will receive no further punishment for its action.

As stated in the FTC’s filing against Sunday Riley, the company directed its employees to post false positive reviews for its products on the popular website and to also dislike negative reviews. This was in an effort to boost product sales.

The company posted these reviews between 2015 and 2017. The company was outed by a former employee.

“The Commission's investigation confirmed the whistleblower's claim and found that the scheme to generate fake reviews of Sunday Riley products involved Ms. Riley herself,” FTC commissioners Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said. “Rather than relying on satisfied customers to generate real buzz about her products, she directed her employees to write glowing reviews and bury negative ones, while offering detailed instructions on how to avoid detection.”

“If you see a negative review -- DISLIKE it,” Riley said in an email directing employees. “After enough dislikes, it is removed. This directly translates to sales!!”

Despite Sunday Riley avoiding punishment, Chopra and Slaughter have pushed for the FTC to issue monetary fines for such offenses in the future.