Sift Logo Several blue dots forming a sphere to the left of the word Sift in italic font.
  • Products

    Digital Trust & Safety Suite

    Fight fraud without sacrificing growth

    Learn more →

    Passwordless
    Authentication

    Account
    Defense

    Content
    Integrity

    Payment
    Protection

    Dispute
    Management

    Sift
    Connect

    PSD2
    Solution

    New Releases & Enhancements

  • Partners

    Sift Partner
    Program

    Join the leader in Digital Trust & Safety

    Learn more →

    Commerce platform partners


  • Industries

    One solution, many applications

    Learn how Sift can work for your industry

    Learn more →

    Featured industries


    Fintech

    Retail

    Food & Beverage

  • Customers

    See case studies by industry

    Sift works across every use case and region

    Learn more →

    Featured customers


  • Resources

    Explore our resources

    Access trends, guides, and insights from Sift

    Learn more →

    Blog

    Ebooks

    One Pagers

    Demos

    Videos

    Webinars

    Infographics

    Podcasts

    Trust & Safety University

  • Fraud Center
  • Company

    Why leaders choose Sift

    Technology, community, and partnership

    Learn more →

    Our mission: Help everyone trust the internet


    About

    Careers

    News & Press

Request a demo
Products
  • Digital Trust & Safety Suite
  • Passwordless Authentication
  • Account Defense
  • Content Integrity
  • Payment Protection
  • Dispute Management
  • Sift Connect
  • PSD2 Solution
  • New Releases & Enchancements
Why Sift
  • Salesforce
  • Magento
  • Shopify
Industries
  • Fintech
  • Retail
  • Food & Beverage
Customers
Resources
  • Blog
  • Ebooks
  • One Pagers
  • Demos
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Infographics
  • Podcasts
  • Trust and Safety University
Fraud Center
About
  • Search Careers
  • Our Company
  • Contact Us
  • Engineering Blog
Request a DemoSign In
  • Blog Home
  • Fraud
< prev / next >
Share this article on LinkedIn
Tweet this article
Share this article on Facebook
SOCIALICON
Share this article via email

10 Things You Need to Know About Fake Reviews

By Roxanna "Evan" Ramzipoor  / 

13 Oct 2016

Whether you’re looking for a hotel in Yosemite, deciding between two hot new burger places, or making sure everyone knows about the three-hour wait at that coffee shop, online reviews have become the currency of the savvy shopper. Unfortunately, scammers also know how much sway a positive or negative review can have. Since the rise of Yelp and Amazon, all sorts of unsavory characters—spammers, phishers, vengeful business owners—have used fake reviews to damage reputations and take advantage of honest users.

fake-reviews

The more we know about fake reviews, the less likely we are to fall prey to them. With that in mind, here are ten important things every business owner and online shopper should know about fake reviews:

1. Fake reviews affect everyone.

According to a 2011 survey conducted at the University of Illinois, up to 30% of online reviews are fake. Regardless of their traffic or user base, very few sites are immune to fake reviews.

2. They’re not all positive.

A common misconception is that most fake reviews come from business owners giving themselves five stars to drive up business—but that’s not always true.  Fake reviews can be either positive or negative: designed to bolster or damage the reputation of a company, product, or seller.  It’s not unusual for rival businesses to get caught in a negative review Cold War, posting nasty reviews for each other to drive away would-be customers.

3. Fake reviewers are psychological warriors.

Many of them spend a good amount of time building their on-site reputation by leaving multiple legitimate reviews before attacking a site with a fake review.

4. Shotgunners are probably scammers.

People who rapidly post multiple reviews within minutes or seconds of one another are usually posting fake reviews.

5. Be wary of details.

If a review is overly specific—i.e. it consists of a long, winding narrative with many adjectives and descriptors—it’s probably fake.  (“My husband and I took a yellow cab through the narrow streets to get to the beautiful hotel with its gothic furniture.”)  A study performed at UCLA in 2011 showed that when people are lying, they provide more details, not fewer!  This applies to fake reviews, too.

6. Be wary of black and white language.

Fake reviewers are extremists.  They tend to rely heavily on black and white language: hate, despise, loathe, love, adore, worship.  In contrast, honest reviewers, even those who really enjoyed that restaurant or who can’t stand that new movie, tend to speak in terms of pros and cons.

7. Be wary of industry-specific terms.

Reviews that are punctuated with industry jargon may appear honest and well thought-out at first glance—but they’re probably fake.  Ordinary reviewers are rarely so heavy-handed with industry-speak.

8. Be wary of reviewers who overuse the product’s name.

Scammers tend to use the name of the product many, many times in their review: i.e. “For people who aren’t sure about the Xbox, before you buy the Xbox, you should research the Xbox, like I researched the Xbox…”

9. The culprit might be your number one competitor.

Businesses sometimes employ or enjoin scammers to post negative reviews on competitors’ sites.  If the review mentions a rival company by name and/or was written in the rival’s home city, you might have some B2B sabotage on your hands.

10. Scammers are weirdly consistent.

Google analytics suggest that two of the most overused words in fake reviews are, oddly enough, “treat” and “recommend.”

Speaking of which…are you an online business concerned about fake reviews invading your own platform? We recommend you treat yourself to a fraud detection program! (We’re not scammers. We promise.)

Related

content abusefake reviews

Roxanna "Evan" Ramzipoor

Roxanna "Evan" Ramzipoor was a Content Marketing Manager at Sift.

  • < prev
  • Blog Home
  • next >
Company
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • News & Press
  • Partner with us
  • Blog
Support
  • Help Center
  • Contact Support
  • System Status
  • Trust & Safety University
  • Fraud Management
Developers
  • Overview
  • APIs
  • Client Libraries
  • Integration Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Engineering Blog
Social

Don't miss a thing

Our newsletter delivers industry trends, insights, and more.

You're on the list.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.

If you are using a screen reader and are having problems using this website, please email support@sift.com for assistance.

© 2022 Sift All Rights Reserved Privacy & Terms

Your information will be used to contact you about our service and subscribe you to our direct marketing communications. You can, of course, unsubscribe at any time. Please see our Website Privacy Notice.