I artifically inflate review scores as part of my services as a freelancer...I call it 'rep management'.

I will be very vague about who does this sort of thing, but it's definitely...every fucking company ever.

I pay various independent contractors (aka Indian people) to do the actual posting, but I write every single review. I imitate accents, I research the products so everything is specific, and I create entirely new identities in the rare occasion that it's necessary (right down to the images of the people). Good reviews will be in the 4 - 5 star range, they'll all be calculated to average out exactly where the client wants their score. Usually 4.0+/5 is attainable for fairly cheap but it really depends on how many reviews are already there and if their competitors are bombing them with negative reviews whilst I'm trying to work.

You may be interested to know that very popular consumer review sites will operate as modern day extortionists when they want your money. Once your company is on their site and they have you on their radar as a potential cow to milk (usually by declining their paid services when offered), you will see regular totally vague negative reviews showing up on your company page. The most blatant offender is TrustPilot. If those people EVER send you an email or a call, DO NOT ANSWER. If you desperately need to ask them a question, do not use a personally identifiable or company email account.

They will hound you and attempt to get you to pay for a premium annual service to help 'improve' your reviews after they've totally defamed your company's profile on their site.

Services also include bombing the shit out of your competitors. I'm not looking for any extra work right now, this isn't an advertisement. Just saying, don't trust user review sites.

Shout out to G2Crowd and SourceForge for at least making attempts to curb the fake shit. I still put fake shit on there, but they seem to care at least.