In recent days, more than eleven accounts belonging to top Chinese sellers have disappeared on Amazon, triggering numerous comments around the world.

To explain the likely cause of the incident, five exporters contacted by TechCrunch pointed to a data leak uncovered by cybersecurity firm SafetyDetectives.

The document, which affected more than 200,000 people, revealed a slew of direct messages between Amazon sellers demanding fake reviews from buyers.

While the claims are yet to be verified, Amazon claims it makes use of “machine learning tools and skilled investigators to analyze over 10 million review submissions weekly”.

The company also says it monitors “all existing reviews for signs of abuse and quickly take action if we find an issue.”

For more information, read the original story in Tech Crunch.