It's tough to know 100% whether the people who are posting are actual patients or work for the surgeon. The best tactic is to go to their profile and look at their other forum activity. If they've got a couple hundred posts that have NOTHING to do with the surgeon they are recommending, then they probably aren't shills. If, every other post is about their surgeon and how great he/she is, then yeah, they are probably coordinators or hired hands.
I researched a LOT before my surgery and based my decision on a lot of factors. There was a great thread about OCC and Ariel Ortiz on these forums for a long time that was over 200 pages with posts from legitimate patients, but a few shills posting there, ruined it for everyone and the thread was taken down. It's too bad, because that thread had some good info in it!
But that wasn't the only deciding factor for me. I looked at media, credentials, etc. as well. It's definitely wise to do your due diligence and make sure you make a decision you are 100% confident and comfortable with.
Golden_goddess_77 got a reaction from Paulina Green in Where to go in mexico