Corby Kummer: "Straight up extortion"

Some restaurants have begun receiving one-star reviews — but not from people who have ever visited the venue. Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio to explain this new extortion scheme is affecting restaurants.

“After a series of mysterious one star reviews, they [restauranteurs] get a letter from India saying, ‘$75 gift card, please, if you want these reviews to come down,’” Kummer said. “It’s straight up extortion.”

Kummer explained that Google is taking down reviews in some cases, but in other situations Google rules the review legitimate. “I think the solution is for Google to improve its system and figure out how to monitor when these things are happening,” Kummer said. “They say that they've got guardrails in place, but in this case, they're not working. It's a new scam.”

Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.