As Black Friday sharp approaches, residents worldwide will be looking to make the most of limited time offers to save small fortunes on their Christmas shopping.
However, it's also a prime opportunity for cyber criminals to exploit and strip people of their hard-earned cash for little to no reward.
Security experts are warning shoppers to stay vigilant this winter - as thousands are expected to flock to popular sites like Amazon come November 25, to get their hands on highly sought-after tech goods for a generously discounted rate.
Read more: The latest scams being used by fraudsters to con people out of their cash or personal details
The Daily Express reports that there are millions of bogus reviews on Amazon alone - with a whopping 61% of all reviews on the site classified as fake, according to research by Fakespot. However, Amazon has said this figure is wrong. To ensure you don't fall victim to an elaborate scam, here's how you can spot the fakes.
Jignesh Vaducha, Managing Director, Bespoke Software Development Company, said: "One of the worst things that can happen to a shopper is to spend their hard-earned cash to receive something they weren’t expecting. Scams like this happen all the time - the main way to avoid this is by looking at reviews, but sometimes stars aren’t enough.
"Fake reviews are ever prevalent on Amazon currently and this is how you can beat them to get the products you deserve."
An Amazon spokesperson, added: "We want Amazon customers to shop with confidence knowing that the reviews they see are authentic and trustworthy. Our policies prohibit reviews abuse including incentivised reviews.
"We suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies and remove inauthentic reviews. We aim to prevent fake reviews from ever appearing in our store and have stopped millions of suspected fake reviews before they’re seen by customers.
"In 2020, we blocked or removed over 200 million suspected fake reviews, of which more than 99 per cent was proactively. Amazon receives millions of reviews every week, each of which is analysed before publication using sophisticated industry-leading technology.
"We also have a team of skilled investigators who continue to monitor all existing reviews for signs of abuse and quickly act if we find an issue."
It is all in the details
Lazy reviews containing only a few key words like 'great' and 'superb' are usually a sure-fire sign that they are fake. These streaming reviews also often lack both structure and individuality.
Spelling mistakes are also often a big no-no. While one or two here and there are okay, excessive errors spanning multiple reviews are usually something you should steer well clear of.
Check reviews that are not one or five-star
Those who leave a fake review usually leave either one or five stars. If you come across a product with a massive volume of top reviews - it's unlikely that the product is perfect so they may well have been falsified.
However, you should also be weary of alliterations of negative reviews, which could indicate a competitor's presence.
Check that it is a verified purchase
'Verified purchase' labels can often come as a godsent, which legitimise that a reviewer has actually bought the item. Although it's not the be all and end all, by seeing a legitimised review, there's a good chance that it's real.
Some sellers will often reimburse and pay off individuals to leave positive reviews after purchasing a product, so look out for over the top wording.
Take a look at the reviewer’s profile
By simply checking out a suspicious reviewer's profile, you can learn a lot. You may for example notice that they only opened their account in the past week, but they have reviewed a large quantity of products.
It's few and far between that an individual would purchase and review over 50 products in such a short time, meaning you can question their authenticity as a genuine buyer.
You can also look at a reviewer's behaviour: have they reviewed random items from across different categories that reflect dissimilar interests? Do they often leave reviews that do not go into the item's specifics? These traits can indicate that the buyer's reviews are not authentic.
Read three-star reviews for grounded product opinions
With so many reviews out there, scrolling through them all can get confusing. To find fair reviews, look out for three-star reviews.
People who leave three stars often explain the good and the bad, suggesting that the reviews are not fake. Always try to find objective reviews to gauge a realistic understanding of the product.
Does the review mention a competing product?
It is common for reviews to be manipulated by competitors, either with negative reviews or by mentioning a competitor's product. Competitors often attempt to drive traffic and sales to their Amazon seller page by leaving a negative review on the page and indicating the competitor's product is superior.
It is definitely suspicious if you see a review persuading you to look at another brand, so be wary of this.
Look at product reviews on other websites
Before purchasing a product on Amazon, it could be worth checking its reviews on other websites. It is best to do this on sites that you trust, and look at reviews from professional critics before you purchase on Amazon.
However, looking at product reviews on other sites should be used as a general guide since fake reviews can also infiltrate other sites.
Is the review too generic?
If the review appears too generic and does not include any specifics about the product, this can also indicate a false review. Fake reviewers are paid to leave large quantities of reviews and will streamline the process by leaving generic comments that will apply to all products.
For example, you may find a review that says "it was as described", "it arrived in perfect condition." This lack of context can indicate that the same reviews have been used for several items.
Same review, same time, same scam
When there are multiple reviews on the same day, around the same time, it is a tell-tale sign that they may be fake. Often, sellers will pay for good reviews on their products to boost their visibility on Amazon, or competitors may pay for negative reviews.
When there is a collection of similar reviews around the same time, it is likely a cause for concern.
Use a tool to filter out scam reviews
ReviewMeta and FakeSpot are just some of the tools that individuals can use to help identify false reviews and filter out potential scams. FakeSpot uses artificial intelligence to alert you to fake reviews and scam sellers as you shop, whereas ReviewMeta filters manufactured reviews and gives an adjusted rating based on what legitimate buyers think.
Using such tools in combination with your own knowledge can help protect you from purchasing unsatisfactory goods based on falsified reviews.
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