- On
- 16 Jan 2025
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
Scrolling across product descriptions is always intriguing, but it leads you to read through reviews from previous purchasers. However, some websites post fake positive reviews to see how many people they can get to buy their products. This isn’t always believable. Luckily, there are ways you can tell the difference between real reviews and fraud reviews. In this post, we’ll go through the red flags you can bear in mind when looking for trustworthy reviews on products so you can avoid being an instrument in an online scam.
Red Flags to Look Out for in Reviews
Check the Timing of Reviews
If you see a bunch of reviews being posted within hours or days of each other, this is an easy spot for a fake review. Many platforms tend to do this when they’re a certain amount to get a product’s sales boosted overnight. On the other hand, if you see a product with a review or two from many months ago, have another look at the reviews to see if it’s up for sale because this might be legit.
Zero Info on the Reviewer
Browse to see if you can catch info on the reviewer’s profile. If they typically only review one product, this is a red flag. Also, if you can’t find details about the account holder, it could mean that the company started a fake review account for a recent marketing campaign. However, you can dig further and see if that same customer left a comment on a different product and if their comments are consistent between positive and negative or just the positive way.
Unnatural Writing
Some counterfeit review sites typically have robotic accounts that try hard to sound like humans. For example, you might see a mishap in the phrasing, formal tones, and very awkward sentences formed. On the other hand, a real survey would sound more conversational and tackle real problems or praises that are relevant to a product.
Furthermore, you might see vague language being used like “best product ever” or “very happy.” As opposed, a real review will describe a personal experience that the customer had with the product being advertised and this will be easy to see by checking that the description in the review matches the product features. Moreover, consumer reviews stuffed with jargon stating the product will change your life or that it’s something you absolutely need, are clearly not real.
Spammy Sources
Another reason a website’s reviews might look spammy is that some websites let anyone post reviews so they can increase sales, even if they haven’t bought anything yet. Therefore, skimming through a review platform and seeing which consumer made a verified purchase will be more reliable as a source to get insight on whether it’s safe to buy a product.
Tools that help spot Fake Reviews
A word counter tool
A word counter can be useful for spotting fake reviews because it checks how natural the flow of words is. For instance, this tool can find repetition in a paragraph and if there are any weird patterns. In addition, if one review is packed with a ton of words and another is relatively short, then you have easily caught it out. The reason is that the person leaving the review is trying to stuff it with unnecessary words or trying to push out high quantities of reviews so they’re in a rush to publish them.
Other review platforms
Go on a few other review platforms and browse for the same brand or product being promoted or reviewed. Make sure to look at more than two at least so you can confirm that the reviews are transparent about the product’s features. Furthermore, you get some websites that have the sole purpose of finding fake reviews, so you can use one of those if you find yourself hassled by it.
Conclusion
By keeping an eye out for red flags like the timing of posts, overused expressions, and vague language, you can avoid falling for a misleading review. Always cross-reference on multiple platforms and make use of tools like word counters to be sure of their authenticity. After all, the goal is to buy smart, which means putting your trust in reviews that are as real as your own experience would be.
