Serinita’s secret: fake reviews and stock photos – how we fell for it
The best crime novels are based on true events. Take the case of beauty product retailer Serinita. With the help of the Galaxus Community, we uncovered dubious company connections, fake reviews and our own mistakes.
Category Management at Galaxus acquires hundreds of new suppliers every year in order to be able to offer customers the widest possible product range. In one case, a few things have gone wrong. We’ll call it the «Serinita case».
Let’s start from the beginning: Serinita offers products in the beauty sector. I get to test the Exfora – an alternative to conventional razors that is said to be better, gentler on the skin and more environmentally friendly than razor blades or epilators.
The Galaxus Community had already raised doubts about the company’s professionalism in the product presentation by our sales department. At the same time, however, the Exfora is being lauded on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok – although the concept isn’t exactly new. Back when teleshopping still had customers, you could buy crystal razors similar to the Exfora.
I tested the product anyway. I’m an editor at Galaxus, not an auditor. But after my review, there was a deluge of criticism. Read on for the timetable of events.
Afternoon of Friday 14 October: first comment from the Community
User ThiloTech had been paying attention and levelled multiple allegations against Serinita. In summary:
- The company is breaking the law because, as a sole proprietorship, it has to bear the name of its co-founders, but their names can’t be found. The website mentions two founders, which isn’t possible with a sole proprietorship, since this type of company can only be founded by one person.
- Serinita’s products come from Aliexpress, which is what is known as drop shipping.
- The Serinita_Schweiz account on Galaxus awards its own products five-star ratings.
Things are starting to add up. Working with a lawyer, I get to the bottom of the allegations.
Point 1: the sole proprietorship and its founders
A look at Serinita’s online legal notice (in German) shows that Serinita isn’t a company; it’s just a website. The company behind it is called Unila deCerf. Unila deCerf, in contrast, is a sole proprietorship. And a quick search shows that the name Unila deCerf contains the surname of one of its founders.
When asked about the type of company, Martin Steiger, lawyer and digital law entrepreneur (website in German), explains: «A sole proprietorship may act under a brand that does not correspond to the sole proprietorship.» Unila deCerf is therefore entitled to offer products as Serinita.
However, even after extensive research, I can find hardly any information about the Unila deCerf company. The address on the website is a PO box in Flamatt in the canton of Fribourg. There’s also a Flamatt postmark on the packaging for the test product I received from Serinita – so that makes sense.
Martin Steiger goes on to explain that online shops in Switzerland have to provide a legal notice (website in German). According to the lawyer, the legal notice for Serinita aka Unila deCerf is missing at least one piece of information: the company’s street address.
There’s also no Unila deCerf website or entry in the commercial register – however, this would only be mandatory for sales of more than 100,000 francs a year. However, Martin Steiger notices that the sole proprietorship isn’t shown in the UID register. Unila deCerf should be registered, because every active company in Switzerland has an identification number (UID).
I’m trying to find out more about the founder. The Serinita story on the website (in German) mentions «two young Swiss women» who had the idea for the business. However, it’s not clear whether these are the official founders. One thing is clear: from a legal point of view, a sole proprietorship like Unila deCerf can only be founded by one person.
In addition, Martin Steiger notes that Serinita also delivers to Germany and other countries. Therefore, its online shop would have to comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other international legal standards. «That’s obviously not the case,» he notes. «In the data protection declaration, it is clear at first glance that the GDPR is not being complied with. Likewise, the legal notice does not correspond to German-European requirements.»
Point 2: alleged drop shipping
Next up, I’m investigating ThiloTech’s second allegation: drop shipping. According to [Wikipedia] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_shipping), drop shipping is «a form of retail business wherein the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfilment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer.»
Serinita products were sent to customers via the Galaxus warehouse, so the term drop shipping doesn’t apply and Serinita can’t be accused of it. It would be different if, for example, a company bought a product from a factory in China and sold it in its own online shop.
Point 3: fake reviews
The third accusation by user ThiloTech is that the Galaxus account Serinita_Schweiz gives its own products five-star ratings. That’s easy to check. Serinita’s account ratings are available on Galaxus and confirm the allegation:
Morning of Tuesday 18 October: alerted to more fake reviews
An anonymous user writes: «Now the fun begins! Take a look at the user’s Community posts. Upvoting its own articles, giving other peeling gloves one-star ratings. It’s really serious!» He also posts the now-deleted profile, which can be assigned to one of the founders.
The Digitec Galaxus Community team investigates the allegations. They’re true. A total of nine comments on the Exfora will therefore be deleted on Tuesday afternoon: the rating submitted by the profile that can be traced back to the founder, as well as eight other ratings that were written by newly created profiles that have not yet placed any orders and have never been active in any other way.
The entire account that could be attributed to one of the founders will also be deleted, eliminating the one-star ratings of other exfoliating products.
The problem with fake ratings is that they may be illegal and can result in punishment. «Fake ratings – of oneself or of others – violate the rules of rating platforms, but can also damage reputations and be unfair,» explains lawyer Martin Steiger.
Noon on Tuesday 18 October: contact with Serinita
I want to know what one of the founders of Serinita has to say about these serious allegations. I emailed her to ask if she was available for an interview. She says no.
However, she writes to me, saying that she doesn’t understand why the Galaxus Community is so bitter. At Serinita, she says, they try to work in «the most honest way». She claims that there is no reason to criticise them.
I confront her again with the allegations. I’m still waiting for a response.
Morning of Wednesday 19 October: the founder’s stock photo
After a tip from Community user Lilly_fee under the first article about Serinita that the photo of the two founders is a stock photo, I take a closer look at the website. There is no longer a picture under «Our Story» (in German).
However, a quick Google cache search brings back the 15 October version of the website. There you’ll find an image of a woman implied to be the business’ founder.
A quick reverse image search reveals that, yes, the image is actually a stock photo that has been widely used on the internet. So, the picture is unlikely to be one of the founders of Serinita. Unless the woman found that her image was so successful that she made it available to photo databases.
Afternoon of Thursday 20 October: founder shows remorse
One of the founders answers my email request. I wanted her to tell me who she founded the Serinita brand with – after all, there are two people involved, even if it’s a sole proprietorship. Her response: «I founded the Serinita brand with a person who is close to me, but who does not wish to make their name public.»
When I ask questions about the Unila deCerf company and its purpose, she replies that it doesn’t sell any products or services; it only owns the Serinita shop and website. The aim is to develop the Serinita shop and any other online shops in order to then be able to found a proper limited company called Unila.
When asked why Serinita’s accounts were giving fake reviews, she first clarifies that she didn’t have much experience with how the Galaxus platform and its community worked. She also admits that she has rated the Serinita products positively using two personal profiles. People linked to the business also left positive reviews of their products – they bought the product from the Serinita website and not on Galaxus, which may not make the reviews seem correct.
Finally, she admits to having set up two more Galaxus accounts with a private e-mail address in order to improve the ratings of her product: «Motivated by emotion, I set up two more Galaxus accounts with private e-mail addresses to improve the rating of the Exfora and also to rate some other similar products poorly.» When asked why she did this, she explains: «I know that it was a childish and emotional reaction, and I regret it, especially when I see where it led.»
She also writes: «I was surprised and frankly disappointed that the number of bad reviews of Exfora on Galaxus has increased so much.» Negative reviews were also submitted by profiles that had not bought the product. She continues: «I have confidence in the product and wouldn’t sell it in my shop if I thought it was useless.» She added that the negative reviews and comments made her feel unfairly treated, especially since she worked hard to build a website and shop from the ground up. She signed off by saying that she will now take all necessary steps to completely rectify the website and the Unila deCerf company.
Evening of Thursday 20 October: terminated relationship with Serinita
In the end, there are too many inconsistencies for Galaxus buyers. So, on Thursday afternoon, we decide to end our collaboration with Serinita. The question marks surrounding Serinita and its business practices are just too big.
The remaining items that we still have in stock are still available. However, no new Serinita products will find their way into the Galaxus range.
Morning of Friday 21 October: be vigilant when choosing products
Because I did a lot of research on Serinita and their products to research this article, I’ve now ended up in the target audience for shaving and I’m seeing targeted ads all over the web. I’m presented with a razor that looks exactly like Serinita’s Exfora. It makes me suspicious.
After a little research, I found three more nanocrystal razors with the exact same design as the Exfora:
It’s interesting to see the different prices listed for identical razors. There’s everything from 19.90 to 39.90 francs. I also stumble across Serinita’s affiliate programme: anyone who sells the products receives commission of up to ten per cent. There’s a whole sales programme behind Serinita. I think we’ve seen enough. It doesn’t get any better.
Verdict: thank you, Community!
Thanks to the observant Galaxus community, we were able to remove fake reviews, delete accounts and terminate our relationship with an untrustworthy company. Thank you for being so vigilant.
Could something like this happen again? Honestly, yes. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as 100% security. But we’re working hard to find fake reviews even faster and delete them quickly. So far, we’ve largely been spared fraudulent activities like these, but we’re aware of the issue. And we’ll check how we can filter out questionable suppliers at an earlier stage so that their products don’t end up in the shop in the first place.
We encourage everyone to stay alert and report it if something seems strange. Thanks in advance!
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Testing devices and gadgets is my thing. Some experiments lead to interesting insights, others to demolished phones. I’m hooked on series and can’t imagine life without Netflix. In summer, you’ll find me soaking up the sun by the lake or at a music festival.
