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
  • Content Fraud
  • Digital Trust & Safety
< prev / next >
Share this article on LinkedIn
Tweet this article
Share this article on Facebook
SOCIALICON
Share this article via email

Fake Reviews: It’s Prime Time for Fraudsters

By Joe Vignolo  / 

25 Jul 2019

In the e-commerce aftermath of Prime Day 2019, some consumers may be suffering from buyer’s remorse, wondering whether they were duped into purchasing seemingly stellar products by fake reviews.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

For context, fake or inauthentic reviews are online reviews submitted by shoppers who never actually purchased the product or who were incentivized to provide reviews. And according to Fakespot, an online service dedicated to determining the reliability of reviews, 61% of reviews for electronics on Amazon are inauthentic. That startling statistic, coupled with the findings of a recent Sift survey that found more than two-thirds (71%) of consumers believe that all consumer products and services need to include customer reviews on company websites, means fake reviews are a problem that shouldn’t be ignored.

Fake Reviews Review Prime Day

How do sellers solicit fake reviews?

Unscrupulous sellers will often incentivize shoppers to post positive reviews in exchange for free products or money. This type of arrangement isn’t relegated to deep corners of the Dark Web. In fact, Facebook is cracking down on private and public groups that are used to solicit incentivized reviews but the problem persists as new review marketplaces pop up as soon as others are taken down.

There are two primary types of fake reviews:

Boosting

Boosting is when online sellers, someone they incentivized with free products, or a professional firm they hired will write a positive review of their product.

Vandalism

The flipside of Boosting is Vandalism, where the sellers themselves, or a professional firm they hired, will write a negative review of a competitor’s product.

The impact of fake reviews 

With more than two-thirds (71%) of consumers believing all products and services should have reviews, and nearly 85% of shoppers saying they trust online reviews as much as a recommendation of a friend, the impact of fake reviews is substantial for companies and consumers.

Here’s why – as stated in our new ebook, Fake Reviews: A Growing Fraud Concern Affecting Brand Loyalty and Growth, 40% of consumers we surveyed stated they will never buy from a brand again if they purchased something from a misleading review online. That’s bad news for e-commerce companies who rely on repeat business and customer loyalty to grow.

And with 50% of businesses expecting content abuse – which includes fraudulent reviews – to increase over the next 12 months, it is only a matter of time before both businesses and consumers are directly affected by fake reviews.

Who is affected by fake reviews?

While anyone who shops online could potentially fall victim to fake reviews, the way in which they affect certain groups of people varies.

Fake Reviews Through the Ages Prime Day

According to a recent survey commissioned by Sift that polled 1,000 consumers in the U.S. ages 18 and above, Generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2015) relies heavily on online reviews, with 79% consulting reviews before making any purchase. And like Millennials (1980 – 1994), Gen Z will often consult reviews for restaurants and apparel before making a buying decision.

Generation X (1965 – 1979) is more skeptical than other age brackets, with 87% believing that fraudulent reviews are an issue yet still use them when deciding on what to buy.

The estimated 74 million Baby Boomers (1944 – 1964) in the United States are the least forgiving when it comes to misleading reviews, with 53% stating they will never purchase a product again if they were convinced by an inauthentic review. 

And both Gen X and Baby Boomers rely on reviews when shopping, specifically when purchasing electronics or planning their next big trip.

Fake reviews may seem trivial at first glance, but the potential damage to brand loyalty, trust, and a business’ bottom line is anything but.


For more information on fake reviews, download our new ebook,  Fake Reviews: A Growing Fraud Concern Affecting Brand Loyalty and Growth. If want to keep bad content off your platform or e-commerce site so you can grow your user base and increase engagement, request a demo of Sift.

Related

content fraudDigital Trust & Safetye-commercefake reviews

Joe Vignolo

Joe Vignolo is the Director of Content Marketing at Sift, specializing in authentic storytelling that connects and converts. Before joining Sift, he ran content at Outreach and Datanyze and was an award-winning broadcast journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also believes Point Break (the original) is a shining example of American cinema.

  • < 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.