Claims they charge as little as £3.25 to write false reviews on website Fiverr

Amazon is suing more than 1,000 people suspected of providing 'fake reviews' on its website.

It emerged last week that products were being pushed to the top of bestseller lists by bogus reviewers who stole identities to leave five-star feedback.

The retail giant has since launched a lawsuit to unmask the fake reviewers and force them to pay damages for the 'manipulation and deception' of its customers, according to court papers filed in the United States on Friday.

Fakery: The 'professional review writers' are paid to pen five-star reports for various products on the retail website, using the identities of real people from social media to make them seem more reliable (file picture)

Amazon claims the 1,114 defendants, known as 'John Does' because their real identities are a mystery, offered to write false reviews for as little as £3.25 on the website Fiverr.

It found the alleged perpetrators through an 'extensive investigation' in which Amazon posed as potential customers on Fiverr.

Fiverr has previously co-operated with the company by taking down fake review dealers but Amazon claimed that 'does not address the root cause of the issue or serve as a sufficient deterrent', the Sunday Times reported.

The paper said that once Amazon has identified the fake reviewers, the courts would force them to turn over the details of their clients.

The authors and sellers who paid for the fake reviews may also face legal action from Amazon in the future.

This latest legal action comes after Amazon sued a number of websites in April for selling fake reviews.

Amazon has tackled the issue before by removing fake listings but said this does not remove the 'root cause' of the problem or provide a strong enough deterrent to 'bad actors engaged in creating and purchasing fraudulent product reviews'.

Big business: Workers pack orders on the warehouse floor at the Amazon centre in Peterborough last winter

Amazon claims the 1,114 defendants offered to write false reviews for as little as £3.25 on the website Fiverr (pictured)

The company said many of the defendants requested the review text from the booksellers themselves and avoided detection by creating multiple accounts.

The crack-down on fake reviewers came shortly after a Sunday Times investigation where the paper pushed an e-book to the top of one of Amazon's bestseller charts using fake reviews.

Some of the fake reviewers who left positive feedback for the book, 'Everything Bonsai!', were also exposed in Amazon's lawsuit.

The book, which was written in a weekend and strewn with errors, went to the top of the gardening and horticulture section on Amazon UK's Kindle store after fake reviewers were paid just £56.

Four reviewers used their several fake identities to download the book more than 200 times in five days and posted four and five-star reviews.

As well as creating a buzz around books to boost sales, fake reviewers also offer to fabricate negative posts for individuals and businesses who want to sabotage rivals.