Null Fake

A Laravel application that analyzes Amazon product reviews to detect fake reviews using AI. Supports Amazon products from 14+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, India, Singapore, and more. The service includes multiple data collection methods with BrightData's managed web scraping, direct Amazon scraping, and comprehensive AI analysis with multi-provider support.

Visit nullfake.com to try it out.

Read our blog post about how nullfake works

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before setting up Null Fake, ensure you have the following installed:

PHP 8.2 or higher with the following extensions:
- BCMath
- Ctype
- cURL
- DOM
- Fileinfo
- JSON
- Mbstring
- OpenSSL
- PCRE
- PDO
- Tokenizer
- XML
Composer (for PHP dependency management)
Node.js 18+ and npm (for frontend asset compilation)
MySQL 8.0+ or PostgreSQL 13+
Redis (optional, for caching and queue management)

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/stardothosting/nullfake.git
cd nullfake

Install PHP dependencies:
```
composer install
```
Install Node.js dependencies:
```
npm install
```
Build frontend assets:
```
npm run build
```

Environment Setup

Copy the environment file:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
Generate application key:
```
php artisan key:generate
```

Configure your .env file with the following essential settings:

# Application
APP_NAME="Null Fake"
APP_ENV=local
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=nullfake
DB_USERNAME=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password

# Queue Configuration
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database
ANALYSIS_ASYNC_ENABLED=true

# Choose your LLM provider (required for analysis)
# Option 1: OpenAI
LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=openai
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-your-openai-key-here
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini

# Option 2: DeepSeek (cost-effective)
# LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=deepseek
# DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-your-deepseek-key-here
# DEEPSEEK_MODEL=deepseek-v3

# Option 3: Self-hosted Ollama (free)
# LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=ollama
# OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434
# OLLAMA_MODEL=qwen2.5:7b

# Amazon Review Service (choose one)
AMAZON_REVIEW_SERVICE=brightdata  # or 'scraping' or 'ajax'

# If using BrightData
BRIGHTDATA_SCRAPER_API=your-brightdata-api-key

# If using direct scraping (add multiple sessions for rotation)
# AMAZON_COOKIES_1=your-session-cookies-here
# AMAZON_COOKIES_2=your-session-cookies-here

# Captcha (for production)
CAPTCHA_ENABLED=false  # Set to true in production
# RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY=your-recaptcha-site-key
# RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY=your-recaptcha-secret-key

# Amazon Affiliate Links (optional)
AMAZON_AFFILIATE_ENABLED=true  # Set to false to disable affiliate links
# AMAZON_AFFILIATE_TAG=your-affiliate-tag

# Chrome Extension API (optional)
# EXTENSION_API_KEY=your-extension-api-key  # Not required for local/testing

Database Setup

Create your database:

# For MySQL
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE nullfake CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"

# For PostgreSQL
createdb nullfake

Run migrations:
```
php artisan migrate
```
Seed the database (optional):
```
php artisan db:seed
```

Running the Application

Option 1: Traditional Setup (Recommended for Development)

Start the Laravel development server:
```
php artisan serve
```
The application will be available at http://localhost:8000
Start the queue worker (in a separate terminal):
```
php artisan queue:work --queue=analysis
```
For development with hot reloading (optional, in a separate terminal):
```
npm run dev
```

Option 2: Docker Setup (Optional)

Docker provides an easy way to run NullFake with all dependencies included. This is perfect if you're not familiar with Laravel or want a quick setup.

Prerequisites:

Docker and Docker Compose installed
No other services running on ports 8080, 3307, or 11434

Quick Start:

# 1. Copy and configure environment
cp docker.env.example .env

# 2. Edit .env and configure at least one LLM provider:
# For OpenAI: Add your OPENAI_API_KEY
# For local AI: Use OLLAMA (no API key needed)

# 3. Start all services (automatic initialization included)
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d

# 4. Optional: Install local AI model
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec ollama ollama pull phi4:14b

Automatic Setup: The Docker containers now automatically handle:

Laravel app key generation
Database migrations
Permissions setup
Directory creation

Access the Application:

Web Interface: http://localhost:8080
Database: localhost:3307 (user: faker, password: password)
Ollama API: http://localhost:11434

Docker Services Included:

PHP 8.3-FPM: Laravel application
Nginx: Web server
MariaDB: Database
Queue Worker: Background job processing
Ollama: Local AI model server (optional)

For detailed Docker documentation, troubleshooting, and advanced configuration, see the Docker Setup Guide.

Quick Test

Traditional Setup:

Visit http://localhost:8000
Enter an Amazon product URL (e.g., https://amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRWNW)
Complete the captcha if enabled
Watch the analysis process in real-time

Docker Setup:

Visit http://localhost:8080
Enter an Amazon product URL (e.g., https://amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRWNW)
Complete the captcha if enabled
Watch the analysis process in real-time

LLM Provider Setup

Choose one of the following AI providers for review analysis:

Ollama (Free, Self-hosted)

Perfect for development and cost-conscious deployments:

Install Ollama:

curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

Pull a model:

# Lightweight model (3B parameters)
ollama pull llama3.2:3b

# Better quality model (7B parameters) 
ollama pull qwen2.5:7b

Configure in .env:

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=ollama
OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434
OLLAMA_MODEL=qwen2.5:7b

OpenAI (Default)

Most reliable, requires API key:

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=openai
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-your-openai-key-here
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini

DeepSeek (Cost-effective)

94% cheaper than OpenAI with comparable quality:

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=deepseek
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-your-deepseek-key-here
DEEPSEEK_MODEL=deepseek-v3

Docker Deployment

For users who prefer containerized deployment or want to avoid setting up PHP/MySQL locally, NullFake includes a complete Docker setup.

Docker vs Traditional Setup

Aspect	Traditional Setup	Docker Setup
Setup Time	15-30 minutes	5-10 minutes
Prerequisites	PHP 8.2+, MySQL, Node.js, Composer	Docker only
Best For	Development, customization	Quick testing, production
Performance	Native performance	Near-native (containerized)
Isolation	Uses system resources	Fully isolated environment

Docker Quick Reference

# Start services
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d

# View logs
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs -f

# Access application container
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec app bash

# Run Laravel commands
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml exec app php artisan [command]

# Stop services
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down

# Stop and remove data (WARNING: destroys database)
docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml down -v

Docker Environment Configuration

The Docker setup uses a template-based configuration approach:

Safe defaults in docker.env.example (committed to git)
User customization in .env (not committed to git)
External secrets provided by users (API keys, etc.)

Required Configuration:

# Copy template
cp docker.env.example .env

# Edit .env and add at least one LLM provider:
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-your-key-here  # OR
LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=ollama            # (free, local AI)

Docker Services Architecture

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│     Nginx       │    │   Laravel App   │    │    MariaDB      │
│   (Port 8080)   │───▶│  (PHP 8.3-FPM) │───▶│  (Port 3307)    │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│  Queue Worker   │    │     Ollama      │
│ (Background)    │    │  (Port 11434)   │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Troubleshooting

Common Issues:

"Class not found" errors: Run composer dump-autoload
Permission errors: Ensure storage/ and bootstrap/cache/ are writable
Queue jobs not processing: Make sure php artisan queue:work is running
LLM provider errors: Test your provider with php artisan llm:manage test
Amazon scraping fails: Check your cookies/API keys and test with php artisan test:amazon-scraping

Docker-Specific Issues:

Port conflicts: Change ports in docker/docker-compose.yml if 8080, 3307, or 11434 are in use
500 errors: Check that you've configured at least one LLM provider in .env
Database connection fails: Ensure DB_HOST=db in your .env file
Containers won't start: Run docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs to see error details

Logs and Debugging:

Application logs: storage/logs/laravel.log
Queue jobs: php artisan queue:failed to see failed jobs
Debug mode: Set APP_DEBUG=true in .env
Docker logs: docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml logs [service]

How It Works

User submits an Amazon product URL from any supported country and completes a captcha
Null Fake automatically detects the country and retrieves the ASIN from the URL
Database check: If a review analysis for the given ASIN and country exists in the database (and is less than 30 days old), the cached analysis is returned instantly
If fresh data is needed, the service fetches reviews using the configured data collection method (BrightData, direct scraping, or AJAX bypass)
Reviews are analyzed using AI with configurable thresholds for fake review detection
Results are displayed including fake review percentage, grade, explanation, and ratings

Supported Countries

Null Fake supports Amazon product analysis from the following countries:

Country	Amazon Domain	Status
🇺🇸 United States	amazon.com	✅ Full Support
🇨🇦 Canada	amazon.ca	✅ Full Support
🇩🇪 Germany	amazon.de	✅ Full Support
🇫🇷 France	amazon.fr	✅ Full Support
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	amazon.co.uk	✅ Full Support
🇮🇹 Italy	amazon.it	✅ Full Support
🇪🇸 Spain	amazon.es	✅ Full Support
🇯🇵 Japan	amazon.co.jp	✅ Full Support
🇦🇺 Australia	amazon.com.au	✅ Full Support
🇮🇳 India	amazon.in	✅ Full Support
🇲🇽 Mexico	amazon.com.mx	✅ Full Support
🇧🇷 Brazil	amazon.com.br	✅ Full Support
🇸🇬 Singapore	amazon.sg	✅ Full Support
🇳🇱 Netherlands	amazon.nl	✅ Full Support

Additional domains supported: Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Poland, Egypt, Belgium

Note: All countries use the same sophisticated AI analysis and data collection methods. Product metadata, review extraction, and fake review detection work consistently across all supported Amazon domains.

Features

Review Collection

BrightData Integration: Professional web scraping with managed infrastructure and anti-bot protection
Direct Amazon Scraping: Custom scraping with proxy support and session management
AJAX Bypass: Alternative method using Amazon's internal endpoints
Multi-session Management: Cookie rotation across multiple Amazon sessions for reliability
Rate Limiting: Configurable delays and request throttling

AI Analysis

Multi-provider Support: OpenAI, DeepSeek, or self-hosted Ollama
Configurable Thresholds: Adjustable fake review detection sensitivity (default: 85+ score)
Comprehensive Scoring: Heuristic analysis combined with LLM evaluation
Grade System: Letter grades (A-F) with detailed explanations
Price Analysis: AI-powered price assessment including MSRP comparison, market positioning, and deal indicators

User Experience

Real-time Progress: Job-based processing with live progress updates
Asynchronous Processing: Queue-based analysis for better performance
Captcha Protection: reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha support with session persistence
Product Metadata: Title, image, and description extraction for complete product pages
Shareable URLs: SEO-optimized product analysis pages
Chrome Extension API: RESTful API endpoints for browser extension integration

Infrastructure

Database Caching: Fast repeat lookups with 30-day cache validity
Comprehensive Alerting: Pushover notifications for API errors and system issues
Command Line Tools: Management commands for data processing and system maintenance
Test Coverage: Extensive test suite with 660+ tests covering all major functionality

Data Collection Methods

The application supports three primary methods for collecting Amazon review data:

BrightData Web Scraper (Recommended)

Professional managed scraping service with enterprise-grade infrastructure:

AMAZON_REVIEW_SERVICE=brightdata
BRIGHTDATA_SCRAPER_API=your-api-key-here

Benefits:

Managed anti-bot protection
High success rates for data collection
Professional infrastructure
Built-in retry mechanisms

Direct Amazon Scraping

Custom scraping implementation with advanced session management:

AMAZON_REVIEW_SERVICE=scraping
AMAZON_COOKIES_1=your-session-cookies-here
AMAZON_COOKIES_2=your-session-cookies-here
# Up to AMAZON_COOKIES_10 for rotation

Features:

Multi-session cookie rotation
CAPTCHA detection and alerting
Proxy integration support
Bandwidth optimization

AJAX Bypass (Experimental)

Alternative method using Amazon's internal AJAX endpoints:

AMAZON_REVIEW_SERVICE=ajax

Note: Currently disabled pending optimization. Uses Amazon's review rendering endpoints to bypass traditional page scraping.

Chrome Extension API

Null Fake provides RESTful API endpoints for Chrome extension integration, allowing browser extensions to submit review data directly from Amazon product pages.

API Endpoints

Submit Reviews for Analysis

POST /api/extension/submit-reviews

Headers:

Content-Type: application/json
X-API-Key: your-api-key (not required for local/testing environments)

Request Body:

{
  "asin": "B0CGM1RSZH",
  "country": "ca",
  "product_url": "https://amazon.ca/dp/B0CGM1RSZH",
  "extraction_timestamp": "2025-09-04T23:57:47.173Z",
  "extension_version": "1.5.1",
  "product_info": {
    "title": "Product Title from Amazon Page",
    "description": "Product description extracted from DOM",
    "image_url": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/product-image.jpg",
    "amazon_rating": 4.3,
    "total_reviews_on_amazon": 1247,
    "price": "$29.99",
    "availability": "In Stock"
  },
  "reviews": [
    {
      "author": "Customer Name",
      "content": "Review text content...",
      "date": "2025-03-17",
      "extraction_index": 1,
      "helpful_votes": 0,
      "rating": 5,
      "review_id": "AMAZON_REVIEW_ID",
      "title": "Review title",
      "verified_purchase": true,
      "vine_customer": false
    }
  ]
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "asin": "B0CGM1RSZH",
  "country": "ca",
  "analysis_id": 12681,
  "processed_reviews": 99,
  "analysis_complete": true,
  "results": {
    "fake_percentage": 15.2,
    "grade": "B",
    "explanation": "Analysis detected some potentially inauthentic reviews...",
    "amazon_rating": 4.3,
    "adjusted_rating": 4.1,
    "rating_difference": -0.2
  },
  "statistics": {
    "total_reviews_on_amazon": 1247,
    "reviews_analyzed": 99,
    "genuine_reviews": 84,
    "fake_reviews": 15
  },
  "product_info": {
    "title": "Product Title",
    "description": "Product description...",
    "image_url": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/product-image.jpg"
  },
  "view_url": "http://nullfake.com/amazon/ca/B0CGM1RSZH",
  "redirect_url": "http://nullfake.com/amazon/ca/B0CGM1RSZH"
}

Get Analysis Status

GET /api/extension/analysis/{asin}/{country}

Returns the current analysis status for a given ASIN and country combination.

Configuration

# Optional API key for production (not required for local/testing)
EXTENSION_API_KEY=your-secure-api-key

# API key requirement (automatically disabled for local/testing environments)
EXTENSION_REQUIRE_API_KEY=true

Benefits of Extension Integration

Direct DOM Access: Extensions can extract complete product data directly from Amazon pages
No Backend Scraping: Eliminates the need for server-side product metadata scraping
Real-time Data: Fresh product information and reviews from the user's current session
Accurate Totals: Access to exact review counts displayed on Amazon pages
Enhanced Reliability: Bypasses anti-bot measures by using legitimate browser sessions

Database Schema

The asin_data table stores:

asin - Amazon Standard Identification Number
country - Country code (e.g., 'us', 'ca')
product_title - Product title from Amazon
product_description - Product description from Amazon
product_image_url - Product image URL
reviews - JSON array of fetched reviews
openai_result - JSON of full AI analysis with detailed scores
total_reviews_on_amazon - Total review count reported by Amazon
have_product_data - Boolean indicating complete product metadata
price - Current Amazon price (decimal)
currency - Currency code (USD, CAD, GBP, etc.)
price_analysis - JSON of AI price analysis results
price_analysis_status - Status (pending/processing/completed/failed)

The model calculates:

fake_percentage - Percentage of reviews flagged as potentially fake (score ≥ 85)
grade - Letter grade (A-F) based on fake review percentage
explanation - Human-readable analysis summary
amazon_rating - Original average rating from all reviews
adjusted_rating - Adjusted rating excluding fake reviews

Technology Stack

Backend: Laravel 12 with Livewire 3
Database: MySQL/PostgreSQL with JSON columns
Queue System: Database-driven job processing for asynchronous analysis
Session Management: Multi-provider session rotation for Amazon access
AI Integration: Multi-provider LLM support with automatic failover
Security: reCAPTCHA/hCaptcha integration with session persistence
Monitoring: Comprehensive alerting via Pushover for system health

Configuration

LLM Provider Setup

The application supports three AI providers for review analysis:

Option 1: OpenAI (Default)

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=openai
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-your-openai-key-here
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini

Option 2: DeepSeek (94% cost reduction vs OpenAI)

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=deepseek
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=sk-your-deepseek-key-here
DEEPSEEK_MODEL=deepseek-v3

Option 3: Self-Hosted Ollama (100% cost reduction)

Install Ollama: curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
Pull a model: ollama pull qwen2.5:7b or ollama pull llama3.2:3b
Configure:

LLM_PRIMARY_PROVIDER=ollama
OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434
OLLAMA_MODEL=qwen2.5:7b

Multi-Provider Fallback

LLM_AUTO_FALLBACK=true

Asynchronous Processing

Control job-based vs immediate processing:

ANALYSIS_ASYNC_ENABLED=true  # Use job queues (recommended for production)
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database    # Database-backed job processing

For immediate processing (development):

ANALYSIS_ASYNC_ENABLED=false

Management Commands

LLM Management

Check provider status: php artisan llm:manage status
Switch providers: php artisan llm:manage switch --provider=ollama
Compare costs: php artisan llm:manage costs --reviews=100
Test providers: php artisan llm:manage test

Data Processing

Process existing products: php artisan asin:process-existing --missing-any
Clean zero-review products: php artisan products:cleanup-zero-reviews
Backfill total review counts: php artisan backfill:total-review-counts

Price Analysis

Run AI-powered price analysis on products:

# Analyze products from the last N days (default: 1 day)
php artisan analyze:prices --days=7

# Analyze a specific ASIN
php artisan analyze:prices --asin=B08N5WRWNW

# Preview what would be processed (dry run)
php artisan analyze:prices --days=7 --dry-run

# Force re-analysis of already analyzed products
php artisan analyze:prices --days=7 --force

# Limit number of products to process
php artisan analyze:prices --days=30 --limit=100

# Adjust delay between API calls (default: 100ms)
php artisan analyze:prices --days=7 --delay=200

Note: Price analysis is automatically queued when new products are analyzed. The console command is for batch processing existing products.

Session Management

Check Amazon sessions: php artisan amazon:cookie-sessions
Test scraping functionality: php artisan test:amazon-scraping
Test international URLs: php artisan test:international-urls
Debug proxy connections: php artisan debug:amazon-scraping

Queue Processing

# Start main analysis queue worker
php artisan queue:work --queue=analysis

# Start price analysis queue worker
php artisan queue:work --queue=price-analysis

# Start worker for all queues (recommended for production)
php artisan queue:work --queue=analysis,product-scraping,price-analysis,default

# Restart workers (after code deployment)
php artisan queue:restart

Production Supervisor Configuration:

[program:nullfake-queue]
command=/usr/bin/php artisan queue:work database --queue=analysis,product-scraping,price-analysis,default --sleep=3 --tries=3 --timeout=300
numprocs=4

Usage

Enter an Amazon product URL from any supported country (US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, India, Singapore, etc.)
Complete the captcha (production only)
View real-time progress as analysis processes
Review detailed results including:
- Fake review percentage with adjustable thresholds
- Letter grade (A-F) based on authenticity
- Detailed explanation of findings
- Original vs adjusted ratings
- Product metadata and images
- Country-specific analysis results

Development

Testing

Run the comprehensive test suite:

# Standard execution
php artisan test

# Parallel execution (faster)
php artisan test --parallel

The application includes 530+ tests covering:

Unit tests for all major services
Feature tests for user workflows
Integration tests for external services
Mock-based testing to prevent external API calls

Code Style

Maintain code quality with Laravel Pint:

./vendor/bin/pint

License

MIT

Shift8

Developed in Toronto, Canada by Shift8 Web

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 383 Commits
app		app
bootstrap		bootstrap
config		config
database		database
docker		docker
public		public
resources		resources
routes		routes
scripts		scripts
storage		storage
tests		tests
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.env.example		.env.example
.env.example.backup		.env.example.backup
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
artisan		artisan
composer.json		composer.json
composer.lock		composer.lock
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
phpunit.xml		phpunit.xml
post-push.sh		post-push.sh
tailwind.config.js		tailwind.config.js
vite.config.js		vite.config.js

License

stardothosting/nullfake

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

Null Fake

Table of Contents

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Installation

Environment Setup

Database Setup

Running the Application

Option 1: Traditional Setup (Recommended for Development)

Option 2: Docker Setup (Optional)

Quick Test

LLM Provider Setup

Ollama (Free, Self-hosted)

OpenAI (Default)

DeepSeek (Cost-effective)

Docker Deployment

Docker vs Traditional Setup

Docker Quick Reference

Docker Environment Configuration

Docker Services Architecture

Troubleshooting

How It Works

Supported Countries

Features

Review Collection

AI Analysis

User Experience

Infrastructure

Data Collection Methods

BrightData Web Scraper (Recommended)

Direct Amazon Scraping

AJAX Bypass (Experimental)

Chrome Extension API

API Endpoints

Submit Reviews for Analysis

Get Analysis Status

Configuration

Benefits of Extension Integration

Database Schema

Technology Stack

Configuration

LLM Provider Setup

Option 1: OpenAI (Default)

Option 2: DeepSeek (94% cost reduction vs OpenAI)

Option 3: Self-Hosted Ollama (100% cost reduction)

Multi-Provider Fallback

Asynchronous Processing

Management Commands

LLM Management

Data Processing

Price Analysis

Session Management

Queue Processing

Usage

Development

Testing

Code Style

License

Shift8

About

Resources

License

Uh oh!

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages 0

Contributors 2

Languages

Packages