Fake Reviews Awareness Training

Introduction to scam

In recent years, with the increase of electronic commerce, the possibility of misleading or deceiving consumers has increased exponentially. E-commerce site users rely heavily on product reviews. 70% of consumers read at least 4 reviews before concluding a purchase and only one in twenty consumers do not trust reviews at all. Therefore, malicious actors have been able to exploit this trend to their advantage through the proliferation of fake reviews, which aim to manipulate the user and direct them to purchase certain products.

Description and consequences of fake reviews

Reviews represent for users a proof of the reliability and quality of the product and the online store. On the other hand, it is not certain that these reviews are written by real users or users who have purchased the actual products reviewed. In fact, the reviews can be anonymous and therefore written by the merchants themselves or by competitors of the store owner or brand. Consequently, one of the most popular techniques used to manipulate user behavior is known as fake reviews

It is a practice that leverages user confidence in the opinions of other consumers, thus favoring the purchase or not of a particular product.

On mass, these reviews can contribute to the success or decline of an online store with important consequences.

Why we fall for fake reviews

So how do we fall for this type of fake review scam?

Usually when we don't know what choice to make between one product or another, especially if both are unknown, we tend to rely on other people's opinions. This is why the opinion of others strongly affects our decision-making processes and is the reason why we rely heavily on online reviews.

Prevention (how to not fall for fake reviews)

How can you recognize fake reviews?

1. They tend to use excessively positive or negative expressions.
2. Very often they don't mention what makes the product or brand good or bad. (expressions such as "Fantastic!" or "horrible" without further comment should set alarm bells about the genuineness of these reviews)
3. If a product is fairly unknown or less popular, but has thousands of positive reviews it could be false!
4. Reviews that use generic or too vague concepts, which could be applied to more products and not exclusively the one reviewed, tend to have a dubious character.
5. Reviews that have expressions that are either too positive or too negative from users who have few comments on their own account are possibly fake.
6. A user who has many reviews written in a short time,  probably hides a scam type account.

Is there any practical advice before making a purchase?

Since we can't have mathematical certainty about the quality of online reviews, here are some suggestions:

1. Compare product reviews across multiple sites that also collect reviews.
2. Check the popularity of the sponsored product or brand.
3. The presence of photos uploaded by users showing the product from multiple angles are generally reliable.
4. Doubts about products that exclusively have too many good or bad reviews especially when lacking details.

Conclusion

So in summary, you should continue to seek out real reviews, now you are able to determine which ones are the most reliable!