How to spot a fake review

Fake reviews aren't always easy to spot, but pose a significant and persistent problem for websites that host customer reviews, and customers who rely on them to make a purchase.

Our research and investigations have exposed a range of ways fakers manipulate customer scores to cheat their way to the top. But while their techniques are often sophisticated, there are things you can do to stay one step ahead. Read on for our top tips on spotting a fake review.

Video: How fake reviews manipulate you

Find out why fake reviews could make you twice as likely to choose a poor quality product.

Actually read the reviews

Don't just go by the overall score to make an impulse purchase. Read through the reviews, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

• Does the review have an extremely high percentage of five-star reviews? Consider how likely it is that so many people found the product to be 'perfect'. Is the reviewer going over the top about the product in the language? For some this may be natural, but if it happens a lot, be wary.
• Do lots of reviews include pictures or videos? Our investigations have found this is a common request from sellers who incentivise positive reviews.
• Does the review include specifics about the experience with the product? Real reviewers will often want to go into detail about their experience.
• Check the dates. If a lot of the reviews were posted at the same time, the seller might have used one of a range of methods to drum up positive feedback through incentivisation.

Ignore the five-star ratings

In the vast majority of cases, fakers request or manipulate reviews to ensure they get a full, five-star rating. One way to get a more balanced view of a product is to ignore these altogether – check the four, three and two star reviews and it's likely you'll be getting more honest opinions.

Check the most recent ratings

Fake reviewers have ways of manipulating reviews so they appear more helpful, and move to the top of the default list where they’re most likely to be seen. You can change the sort order from ‘Top reviews’ to ‘Most recent’ to get a more reliable idea of the most recent reviewer experiences.  

Take extra care buying unknown brands

While many smaller brands that you don't recognise could be honest start-ups trying to find an audience in a crowded market, others attempt to take shortcuts to jump to the top of the listings. Time and again we've found fake reviews on brands we didn't recognise, and on most occasions it's difficult or impossible to get in touch with the brand to find out more. 

If you don't recognise a brand, check online to see if it has a legitimate looking website, with clear contact details so you can get in touch if anything goes wrong. You could even try calling or emailing the seller with a question, to see how quickly they respond.

Look for signs of incentivisation

Spotting fake or incentivised reviews isn’t easy. But there are things you can look out for, including whether someone mentions being offered a gift card or refund in the review, or was asked to change a negative review. Often people will reference this in negative reviews to try and warn other buyers, but you can also use the search box above reviews on Amazon to look for key terms, like 'bribe' or 'warning'.  

Look for patterns in less positive reviews

Negative reviews can be eye-openers. Some might complain about the product failing over time, have a negative opinion about the style or feel, or even cite issues with delivery or customer service – problems that might not necessarily apply to everyone.

On the other hand, consistent criticism of quality, a specific aspect of functionality, or surprise that so many reviews are so positive could be seen as more of a warning sign. Look out for any evidence that reviews are incentivised, perhaps with the offer of a gift card or a full or partial refund.

And look out for patterns. If a seller gets a bad review then a flurry of positive reviews, it’s possible they’re trying to bury the bad one and bring back up their average score.

It can also be useful to check feedback on the seller for insights on how other customers found the service. 

Watch out for admitted bias

If someone hasn’t read the book, used the product, or visited the location, why are they reviewing it?

Most people would wait to try something before recommending it or dissuading other people from buying it too.

Often, the reviewer will promise to change or update their review after they’ve tried it, but almost never will.

Are reviews about the actual product?

In our fake reviews investigations, we've found repeated evidence of 'review merging' on Amazon – this is when reviews for entirely different products are listed under the product you're looking at. 

If you see evidence of this, be especially wary, as it's possible the seller is deliberately manipulating the product listing to make it seem more appealing to buyers.

Look for verified purchases

While they can be influenced by sellers, verified reviews are ones the marketplace can confirm were bought through their site. Non-verified reviews mean the marketplace couldn’t confirm where they bought that product or what price they paid for it.

On most marketplaces, ‘verified purchase’ or something similar will appear next to the reviewer’s name. 

Check out what else the reviewers bought

You can almost always check to see what other reviews someone has left on products or services by clicking on their account. This should help you judge whether the review is real.

If they’ve bought many very similar items or a lot of totally unconnected items, and all the ratings are overwhelmingly positive, the reviewer might be getting the products for free in exchange for a good review.

Exercise your judgment depending on the type of product. For example, it’s unlikely one person would have needed to buy five battery packs recently and reviewed them all positively.

In contrast, someone looking to become a vegetarian is more likely to have purchased and reviewed five vegetarian cookbooks, giving the seller a variety of ratings and feedback.

Use an online tool

If you use all the above methods and you’re still not sure about the validity of the review, there are online tools you can use to help you check for fake reviews. 

Fakespot aims to help you get a more honest view of product reviews, and returns what it believes to be the real rating for a product, along with a summary of anything suspicious that was found.

Watch out for fake business reviews

We've demonstrated how fake reviews can easily make their way onto business listings, so it's not just product purchases where you need to be wary. Many of the above tips still apply here, but bear in mind the following as well when choosing a service:

• Check other sources - Some sectors have complaint-handling bodies and publish customer disputes. Try searching the database of concluded investigations, for example through the Ombudsman service for that sector or industry body.
• Check the reviewer - Most sites let you click on a username to see what else the person has reviewed. If they’ve left lots of five-star reviews, reviewed businesses across the world or only ever reviewed that one business, keep looking for more reliable sources.

Can you spot a fake review?

Take our quiz to find out if you can tell a real review from a fake.

How to report a fake review

If you spot a review which you think is fake, you’re normally able to report or flag it to the marketplace as inappropriate.

The marketplace will be alerted and may look into why it’s been flagged.

• Amazon has a 'report' button attached to each review. You can also email Amazon to report any issues.
• On eBay, select the ‘See all reviews’ option in the product reviews section. Underneath each review, a small exclamation mark symbol allows you to report it.
• On Trustpilot, a flag symbol on each review allows you to report it

Know your consumer rights

If you think you’ve been misled and you’ve bought from a retailer online, you’re able to cancel and return  the order.

You can exercise your right to cancel at any time from the moment you place the order and up to 14 days after taking ownership of the goods.

You then have a further 14 days from the date you notified the seller of your intention to cancel to return the goods. Read more on online returns rights.

If you bought from an individual, you have fewer rights but misrepresenting goods is still not allowed. Putting it right can be tricky.

Read more on how to return something you bought from an individual seller.

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