Fiverr.com, a popular freelance platform known for connecting businesses with freelancers, has been rocked by a scandal involving fake SEO and link building services that promise to increase domain authority (DA) but deliver nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Domain authority (DA) is a metric developed by MOZ that predicts how well a website is likely to rank on SERPs. It is calculated on a scale of 1 to 100
Investigative journalists at Tech Business News in Australia have uncovered and reported over 20 of these scams on the platform, which deceive users and manipulate SEO metrics tools like MOZ to display fake DA scores, all while Fiveer.com has turned a blind eye to these fraudulent gigs. However, it has been noted there are hundreds of these gigs operating on the platform.
The scam is simple yet insidious. Freelancers on Fiveer.com claim to provide legitimate SEO and link building services that will boost a website’s overall domain authority (DA), third party SEO metric used by optimisation and digital marketing experts. However, these freelancers use deceitful tactics, building nothing more than fake redirect notices that trick SEO metrics tools into displaying a higher DA score, giving a false impression of improved website authority.
One journalist, who conducted an in-depth investigation into these scams, shared his findings, stating, “It’s shocking how widespread these fake domain authority increase scams are on Fiveer.com,”
“Freelancers are using technical tricks to create smoke and mirrors, making it seem like they are building high-quality backlinks that will improve a website’s credibility,”
“In reality, they are simply using redirect notices, which have no impact on a website’s authority. It’s a blatant deception, and Fiveer.com has failed to take any action despite providing them with concrete evidence.” he said
The impact of these scams on businesses and website owners can be devastating. Many users have fallen victim to these fraudulent gigs, paying fees for services that provide no tangible results and basically makes the resale price of the domain name now worth next to nothing.
Despite repeated efforts by journalists and users to expose these scams and hold Fiveer.com accountable, the platform has turned a blind eye to the issue and refused to remove these fraudulent services some of which clearly state will “Increase your website rankings because your domain authority will be higher”
Freelancers who engage in these fraudulent activities continue to operate on the platform, luring unsuspecting users with promises of improved DA and higher rankings on Google.
Also, despite providing Fiverr.com with detailed technical information and evidence of the fraudulent nature of these gigs, the platform has failed to take any action to remove them, raising serious questions about their commitment to user safety and integrity.
There also does not seem to be any regulation for the platform hence why the freelancer scammers and Fiveer.com continue to make a profit from these domain authority increase scam services.
Users have also expressed outrage and frustration, demanding that Fiverr.com take immediate action to address the issue and protect their interests. Many have called for stricter vetting and verification processes for freelancers on the platform, as well as increased transparency and accountability in dealing with complaints and disputes.
Additonally, users who understand they have been scammed will have there “review” of the service removed after obtaining a refund. This leaves no warning for other unsuspecting victims of these scams and insures the scam lives on. This is an obvious tactic by Fiveer.com.
The prevalence of fake SEO and link building scams on Fiverr.com, specifically those promising to increase domain authority, has tarnished the platform’s reputation and deceived countless users. However, thousands of paying customers on the platform are not even aware they have been totally scammed as they have no knowlerdge of SEO or the quality of the service they have been provided VS the asking the price.
The Scourge of Fake Domain Authority Websites and Link Buying
The world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has long been a battleground for businesses vying for top rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).
In this race for online visibility, some unscrupulous players have resorted to unethical tactics, including buying links from fake domain authority websites.
This nefarious practice has become a growing problem in the SEO industry, with scammers making a quick buck by selling hyperlinks on websites with fake domain authority, as measured by popular SEO metrics tool MOZ.
Many SEO professionals and website owners rely on DA as an important factor in their link building strategies. However, scammers have found a way to exploit this metric by creating fake websites with inflated DA scores and selling links on these sites for exorbitant prices.
The modus operandi of these scammers is simple but deceitful. They create websites that mimic legitimate sites, complete with professional-looking designs and content that appears to be relevant and credible.
They then manipulate the MOZ DA score of these fake websites by employing various unethical techniques, such as spammy link building, buying low-quality backlinks, and using private blog networks (PBNs) to artificially inflate the website’s authority.
Once the DA score is inflated, these scammers approach unsuspecting website owners and SEO practitioners, offering to sell links on their high-DA websites at premium prices.
Many businesses fall victim to these scams, lured by the promise of quick and easy SEO gains. They buy these high-priced links, believing that they are investing in legitimate SEO efforts to improve their website’s rankings
The proliferation of fake domain authority websites and link buying has tarnished the reputation of the SEO industry and has eroded the trust that legitimate SEO practitioners have worked hard to build with search engines and clients alike.
Moreover, businesses that fall victim to these scams often suffer financial losses and wasted resources in their efforts to recover from the penalties imposed by search engines.
To combat this problem, SEO professionals and website owners need to be vigilant and conduct thorough due diligence when engaging in link building activities. They should avoid buying links from unknown or suspicious websites, and instead focus on building high-quality, organic links from reputable sources.
This unethical practice has resulted in financial losses, wasted resources, and damaged reputations for legitimate SEO practitioners and businesses alike
MOZ Refuses to Correct the Fake Domain Authority Hack
MOZ, has been refusing to put an end to the manipulation of Domain Authority (DA) scores, despite growing concerns about fake DA link building scams.
This has raised eyebrows in the SEO community, as other reputable metrics tool providers like Ahrefs have already taken steps to remove Google redirect notices from their calculations to ensure more accurate scores, and prevent hacking or manipulation of metrics via redirect notices.
While Ahrefs and other responsible metrics tool providers have taken steps to address this issue and provide more accurate metrics to their users, MOZ has been accused of turning a blind eye and refusing to follow suit.
Many are left questioning why MOZ is not taking action to stop the manipulation of its DA scores and protect its users from falling victim to fake link building scams. Despite repeated requests from the SEO community to address this issue, MOZ has failed to take necessary measures to ensure the integrity of its metrics.
Furthermore, speculations have arisen that the operators of MOZ may be involved in selling fake DA links to unsuspecting hyperlink buyers under a different entity or other brand names involved in selling hyperinks.
This has raised serious concerns about the ethical practices of MOZ and its commitment to providing reliable and trustworthy metrics to its users. As the SEO industry relies heavily on SEO metrics to make informed decisions, the lack of action by MOZ has left many users disillusioned and questioning the credibility of its metrics.
SEO experts and webmasters alike are urging MOZ to take immediate action to remove redirect notices from its DA calculations and prevent the manipulation of its metrics. The SEO community is calling for transparency and accountability from MOZ, and demands answers as to why the company has failed to address this critical issue.
Until proper measures are taken to ensure the accuracy and reliability of its metrics, MOZ’s reputation as a trusted SEO metrics tool provider remains tarnished, and doubts linger about its commitment to its users’ best interests.
The SEO community awaits decisive action from MOZ to address this pressing issue and uphold the credibility of its metrics.
Fiverr’s failure to take decisive action
Fiverr’s failure to take decisive action to remove these fraudulent gigs and protect its users’ interests is alarming. Businesses and website owners must exercise caution and conduct thorough research before engaging freelancers on Fiveer.com, as the issue of fake domain authority boosts continues to cast a dark shadow over the platform’s credibility.
It’s time for Fiveer.com to step up, take responsibility, and clean up its platform from these deceptive practices to restore trust among its users and for governments to placing heavy regultations on the Freelance platforms.
