Be wary of online reviews

Shoppers have bought an estimated 80 million items on the basis of positive online reviews only to be disappointed when the goods arrive, National Trading Standards (NTS) has warned.

NTS said consumer trust in online reviews is fuelling a surge in criminals using them to sell poor-quality goods and services.

More than half of online shoppers (56%) use online reviews as a deciding factor when buying a product, a survey for NTS suggests.

Fake online reviews are estimated to potentially influence £23 billion of UK consumer spending every year.

However, NTS found just one in five check the timing and spacing of reviews online – if lots of similar reviews have been posted in a short space of time, they may have been submitted by the same person or group – while only 18% look at reviewers’ activity history, which can provide useful information about whether they are genuine.

Some 97% of shoppers using online reviews do not use browser plug-ins such as Fakespot and Reviewmeta to detect bogus reviews.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently leading an investigation into fake reviews, which includes a formal probe into Amazon and Google over concerns they have not been doing enough to combat fake reviews on their sites.

CMA senior director of consumer protection George Lusty said: “We know this is a big issue for shoppers, which is why we’re investigating concerns that Amazon and Google have not been doing enough to tackle fake reviews.”

Anyone who fears they have been the victim on an online scam should report it to actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

For more advice and information call the Citizens Advice scams action service on 0808 250 5050.