UK investigating fake web reviews

LONDON — Britain’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into misleading reviews on several big websites amid the surge in online shopping during pandemic lockdown restrictions.

The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it will look into how the websites detect, investigate and respond to fake and misleading reviews.

The regulator said one of the issues it’s examining is suspicious activity such as single users reviewing an “unlikely range of products or services.”

It’s also looking at how websites deal with reviews that the reviewer has been paid to review.

The authority didn’t disclose which websites it’s investigating.