Kay Dean with Fake Review Watch posted a video showing troubling patterns with Yelp Elites engaging in suspicious activity. In the video, Kay shows that several Yelp Elite reviewers list themselves as open to collaborating on their social media profiles. Kay has reported on this issue over the years.
We have the brother-and-sister duo Phi D and Tri D. Phi has posted 306 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for four years. Tri has posted 246 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for four years as well. Next we have Anita L. Anita has posted 169 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for three years. Finally, we have Rathana K, who has posted 91 reviews and has been a Yelp Elite for five years. We can’t tell which reviews are legitimate and which ones were contracted. A consumer would have cross-referenced the business review with the reviewer’s social media profiles. I decided to randomly check some of the businesses being reviewed. The second business I checked was CLEO Nail Bar in Pasadena, CA. I found several reviews from Yelp Elite reviewers. One of those reviewers, Tina T, left a review on July 7, 2026. On her Instagram, her profile states DM for Invites & Collabs.
Phi left a review for The Haven Detox in Blackwood, NJ on June 5, 2026. Her brother left a review for Indiana Center for Recovery in Bloomington, IN. I know both of these addiction treatment facilities well. In 2025, I mapped out the reviews for Yellowstone Ranch Recovery. By the time I was stopped, I had found 490 addiction treatment and sober living homes connected by people who reviewed at least one facility. Seeing these two facilities reviewed by a brother-and-sister duo from Southern California is alarming. Indiana Center for Recovery’s last live 5-star Yelp review was left on August 27, 2025. Several other 5-star reviews have been removed.
If these Yelp Elites are selling reviews to businesses, it hurts consumers and businesses that play by the rules. Yelp is rewarding these reviews with perks and special events. Yelp also gives Yelp Elite reviews more weight.
Time will tell if Yelp removes the reviews and their Elite status. Yelp needs to address this situation and end it once and for all. I have a link to another Yelp Elite suspected of doing the same thing; let’s see if Yelp finds them and takes any action.