Aju Business Daily

SEOUL --The operator of South Korea's favorite food delivery app service Baedal Minjok will take legal action against reviewers who allegedly deceived customers by leaving fake positive reviews for restaurants and food.

Reviews posted on food delivery apps play a vital role when consumers choose their menu. Some restaurants provide extra services such as an extra bag of chips to earn positive reviews from customers or provide financial favors to reviewers to receive high scores.

Woowa Brothers said in a statement on Monday that it would take legal action against those who have repeatedly posted fake reviews for favors. Since the delivery service operator formed a task force to monitor cheating in September last year, about 20,000 fake reviews have been discovered.

Reviewers who left fake posts have received free food and up to 10,000 won ($8.18) from clients. The app service operator said it has found that such illegal activities were carried out by corporate-type restaurants that have plenty of funds. Woowa said it would sever contracts with restaurants that create fake reviews.