Sunday Riley — When the Founder Tells Staff to Fake the Reviews
A leaked internal email from founder Sunday Riley instructed employees to write fake five-star Sephora reviews — including how to use VPNs and dislike negative reviews. The FTC settled, the receipts went viral.
Watch the trick unfold, layer by layer.
- 1Step 1 — Manufacture the floor
Founder Sunday Riley emailed staff a how-to guide for writing fake Sephora reviews under multiple identities. Goal: ensure no product had fewer than 50 five-star reviews before shoppers saw it.
The trick: The Crowd → - 2Step 2 — VPNs and burner accounts
The email instructed employees to set up multiple Sephora accounts, use a VPN to dodge IP detection, and rotate devices. The infrastructure was the giveaway: real customers don't need a tradecraft document.
The trick: The Hidden Door → - 3Step 3 — Bury the dissent
Staff were told to dislike negative reviews so they'd sink to the bottom of the listing. The trick wasn't just adding fakes — it was suppressing real users who disagreed with the manufactured consensus.
The trick: The Guilt Decline → - 4Step 4 — The 'tips' for sounding real
The email included tone advice: mention a specific shade, complain about one minor thing, post on weekdays. The fluency rules of organic reviews — turned into a checklist for fraud.
The trick: The Easy Read → - 5Step 5 — The leak
October 2018: a former employee posted the email to r/SkincareAddiction. It went viral. Oct 2019: FTC settled with Sunday Riley Modern Skincare and the founder personally — 20-year compliance order. No fine, but the settlement is searchable forever.
The trick: The Switcheroo →
Steal it. Use it tonight.
- 1Don't. The FTC's 2024 'Fake Reviews and Testimonials' rule now allows civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation — per fake review.
- 2If you want reviews: ship a product worth reviewing, then ask customers via post-purchase email. That's it.
- 3Employee reviews must disclose the employment. 'Verified buyer' badges are now regulated speech.
Other named offenders include Cure Encapsulations (FTC, 2019, paid $12.8M for fake Amazon reviews), Fashion Nova ($4.2M FTC settlement, 2022, for suppressing negative reviews), and Roomster ($1.6M, 2023). The pattern is identical and the regulators are now scaling enforcement.
Study the techniques behind this teardown
You feel safer choosing what others have already chosen.
You can't find the option you want — so you take the one they want.
You feel like an idiot for clicking 'no'.
It feels true because it was easy to understand.
You came for one thing. You're being sold another.