Consumers in the UK are more than ever at risk from fraudulent online reviews. Despite a ban on such practices enacted under the Trump administration in April 2025, this threat continues. A new study concluded that at least 11% and as high as 15% of reviews on major e-commerce platforms are fake. Consumer advocates want people to know you can’t always trust those perfect reviews. These reviews lack the nuanced insights valuable only in hands-on experiences.
The problem with fake reviews has lingered despite the UK government’s attempts to eradicate this misleading practice. National Trading Standards (NTS) has now released a warning to consumers. What’s mad is that they exposed the fact that crooks are using mercenaries, automated bots, and AI to spam reviews at scale! This dangerous trend presents a grave threat to the millions of people who shop online and use customer reviews to help decide which products to buy.
Red Flags in Reviews
These counterfeit critiques are often rife with blatant precedent, misspellings, and just bad grammar that all wave red flags for savvy shoppers. “Genuine reviews will often be personal and specific to the individual’s experience of using the item, while a fake is more likely to be vague, using generic words and phrases such as ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’, and ‘buy this product’,” stated an NTS representative.
Experts suggest that consumers should “consider how likely it is that so many people found the product to be ‘perfect’.” When you see lots of things like “this product single-handedly changed my life,” it’s usually a major flag for inauthenticity.
Consumers are encouraged to examine ratings beyond just the highest scores. “Check the four, three and two stars and it’s likely you’ll be getting more honest opinions,” an expert advised. This initiative perks shoppers’ ears up to really hear both sides of the story so before they go to checkout, they’re informed about their products.
The Scale of the Problem
Fake review businesses have changed a lot over the years. Now, they’ve moved beyond old-fashioned sweatshops of countries like India and Russia to more advanced operations that utilize technology to the fullest. Other research has projected that as many as 1 in 3 online reviews are fake. Paid individuals are often hired to churn out vast quantities of positive reviews, artificially boosting a business’s rating without reflecting genuine consumer experiences.
With the rise of every other online marketplace comes the challenge of distinguishing real reviews from the fake. There are significant dangers to falling for fraudulent reviews. Consumers can be left short-changed, with a poor quality replacement or potentially even a fake product that fails to perform as expected.
Protecting Yourself from Deception
Given these changes, consumers should do their best to be proactive to avoid getting duped while shopping online. By sidelining all of the five-star reviews and drilling deep on three-star reviews or lower, you can get a better sense of a product’s reality. Our genuine reviewers are eager to share the nitty gritty of their personal experiences. Their information can help buyers in the public and private sector to make better decisions.
Fake reviews pose a significant threat to consumers and honest businesses as well. Attempts to address this problem are persistent. Shoppers need to be on their toes and be skeptics when it comes to interpreting online reviews.