Amazon reviews are a cornerstone of online shopping โ they can make or break a product. Unfortunately, they are also easy to game.
Fraudulent reviewers (or โbad actorsโ) use fake feedback to boost or sink products.
For Amazon sellers, spotting and stopping these fake reviews is critical. One survey found that 11โ15% of electronics reviews on e-commerce sites for 3 common product categories (consumer electronics, home and kitchen, sports and outdoors) were fraudulent.
Fake reviews โ whether overly positive ones on your competitorsโ listings or malicious negatives on yours โ undermine trust and harm genuine sellers.
This guide shows eCommerce professionals a detailed 5-step method to check if Amazon reviews are fake and protect your listings. Weโll explain what fake reviews are, why they matter, how to detect them, and what Amazon itself is doing to combat review fraud.
What Are Fake Reviews And Why They Hurt Sellers
Fake reviews are fraudulent customer reviews designed to mislead shoppers and game Amazonโs ranking algorithms.
There are two main types:
- Fake positives and
- Fake negatives.
Fake positive reviews are purchased or incentivized to make a mediocre product look better. As Noah Wickham of MyAmazonGuy explains, โSellers (or third parties) pay for fake reviews to artificially boost their rankings,โ making their products appear more reliable than they really are.
On the flip side, fake negative reviews (also called review bombing) are written by competitors or malicious actors to sabotage a listing. These reviewers often name a competitorโs product as a better choice, trying to divert sales away.
In short, fake reviews create an uneven playing field. Honest sellers risk losing revenue and credibility, and Amazonโs review system loses its value.
Since Amazon ranks products based on sales and customer feedback, review manipulation can skew search results and Best Seller badges.
Moreover, engaging in fake reviews can trigger serious penalties โ including listing suspension or account bans โ if caught.
The takeaway is clear: sellers must vigilantly check for review fraud and take action. The next section outlines a 5-step framework for doing exactly that on your Amazon listings.
5-Step Framework to Detect Fake Amazon Reviews on Your Listings
1. Monitor suspicious review patterns
Establish a habit of tracking your review trends closely. Look for unusual spikes or odd distributions in new feedback.
For example, if your listing suddenly gets a bunch of 5-star reviews overnight (or conversely, an unexpected wave of 1-star reviews), treat that as a warning sign.
Wired and JungleScout both recommend watching for โsuspicious review patternsโ such as:
- Sudden spikes in reviews โ a short burst of several new reviews, especially if they are all positive or all negative
- Overwhelming 5โ share โ an unusually high percentage of 5-star ratings with few middling or critical comments
- Copied or repetitive language โ multiple reviews using nearly identical wording, phrases or generic praise
- Vague or one-word reviews โ many reviews that are extremely short (e.g. โGoodโ, โAwesomeโ) with no product details
- Clustering on specific dates โ dozens of reviews posted on the same day or in tightly grouped batches
- Irrelevant or copy-paste content โ reviews that mention unrelated products or contain odd details (sometimes indicating a listing was merged)
No single red flag proves fraud, but multiple flags together increase suspicion. Use tools (or simple spreadsheets) to visualize your rating timeline. Enroll in alerts if possible: many sellers use software or Amazonโs own notifications to be notified when a new review appears. If you see any of the above patterns, dig deeper rather than assume all is well.
Bonus Read: Top 5 Amazon Review Management Agencies for 2025
2. Investigate reviewer profiles
When you suspect a review might be fake, click the reviewerโs name and evaluate their profile. Amazon lets you see how many reviews a person has written and which products theyโve reviewed.
As Wired suggests, check their review history and โImpactโ score. Red flags include reviewers who:
- Have only extreme ratings (e.g. all 5โ or all 1โ reviews) or a high number of one-star ratings. For instance, a user with dozens of 1-star reviews on every product they buy is likely engaged in review bombing.
- Review many unrelated items in a short time (suggesting they belong to a review swap or bot network). If the same name pops up across your products and totally different categories, be cautious.
- Show very uniform or similar review text across their feedback (sign of copy-paste behavior).
- Have no verified purchases โ or conversely, suspiciously many โVerified Purchaseโ tags obtained by refunds (more on that next).
If a profile looks fishy, you can report it via Seller Central. Some sellers copy the reviewerโs Amazon profile URL into a case with Amazon Support. Even if you canโt remove a review yourself, documenting these details helps Amazonโs investigators.
Bonus Read: How to Handle Negative Reviews on Amazon [Learnings from 250+ Brands]
3. Donโt rely on โVerified Purchaseโ alone
The โVerified Purchaseโ badge tells you the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. However, it is not a guarantee of authenticity. Wired warns that some scammers refund the purchase after getting the badge, then leave a fake review. There are review-swapping schemes where sellers refund each otherโs products to claim the verified tag.
Likewise, bad actors may purchase competitorsโ products, write negative reviews, and then return them.
In practice, multiple signals matter more than the badge. A single verified 5-star review with generic praise can still be fake, while a well-written unverified review could be genuine (someone who bought elsewhere).
Donโt dismiss a review just because itโs unverified โ it could be legitimate feedback from a repeat customer โ but treat patterns of unverified reviews with caution. Conversely, if all the glowing reviews have that badge, verify if anyone else has similar praise on independent sites.
4. Use review analysis tools
Several tools exist to help analyze a listingโs reviews. For example, ReviewMeta (revmeta.com) can scan a product page and produce a โreport cardโ that highlights suspicious reviews (e.g. unverified or incentivized ones). TheReviewIndex and the now-discontinued Fakespot (shuttered in 2025) worked similarly. These services arenโt perfect, but they can give you a sanity check.
You can also use broader Amazon analytics and alert services. Platforms like Jungle Scout or Helium 10 allow you to set up review alerts; theyโll email you when your products get new reviews or when competitor reviews change, letting you react immediately. Agencies like SalesDuo even offer proprietary dashboards for โfraudulent review detection,โ flagging unusual review spikes or patterns. (For example, SalesDuoโs review management recommends monitoring review growth and spotting odd spikes.) Additionally, Amazon provides basic tools: Seller Centralโs Voice of Customer dashboard can reveal trends in recent feedback, and Brand Registry users have some enhanced analytics.
Ultimately, combine automated tools with manual checks. If a tool raises a flag, follow up by reading the reviews in question. Do not blindly delete reviews, but use these tools to prioritize where to look.
Bonus Read: Amazon Vine Program to Improve Your Reviews & Ratings in 2025
5. Compare competitor listings for patterns
Donโt just focus on your own listings โ scan competitor products too. Competitors may be using the same fake-review networks on their products (or even on yours). For example, Wired notes that fake negative reviews often explicitly name another product as โbetter,โ steering shoppers to a rival. If you see those names on your listing or a competitorโs, thatโs a strong signal of sabotage. DataWeaveโs analysis points out that brands sometimes pay for fake negatives on rivalsโ listings to lower their value.
To use this strategy, pick similar products in your category and apply the same review-scrutiny. Are their review trajectories suspicious too? Do they suddenly get dozens of 1-star reviews around the time yours do? Are any common reviewer names popping up across multiple products? Tools like ReviewMeta can even analyze competitorsโ ASINs the same way. In short, if you detect a malicious campaign hitting one seller, it often affects others in that niche. Watching your competitors helps you spot coordinated attacks early.
Bonus Read: 7 Effective Ways to Get Reviews on Amazon for Sellers
What Amazon Is Doing to Tackle Fake Reviews
Amazon is far from oblivious to fake reviews; it has implemented a four-pronged strategy of policies, tech, enforcement, and collaboration. The company repeatedly emphasizes a โzero toleranceโ policy on review abuse. For example, Amazonโs own blog and spokespeople detail actions like:
- Strict enforcement: Amazon prohibits any form of review manipulation. Sellers caught buying reviews, offering incentives, or running review-swapping schemes face suspension or account banning. Incentivized reviews (offering freebies or discounts for positive feedback) have been banned since 2016. Amazon reminds sellers that violations carry legal consequences.
- Automated detection: The platform employs sophisticated machine learning to analyze review data for fraud. Amazon reports it โproactively blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviewsโ in 2023 alone. Its algorithms look at patterns like reviewer behavior, account networks, and timing to sniff out inauthentic content before it ever goes live.
- Industry collaboration: Recognizing this is not an Amazon-only problem, the company co-founded the Coalition for Trusted Reviews with industry partners. Through this and partnerships with regulators, Amazon shares data on fake-review tactics and supports tougher laws. For instance, a new FTC rule (effective late 2023) bans the sale of fake reviews and allows heavy fines โ Amazon publicly applauded this development.
- Reporting channels: Amazon also relies on its community to help. Every review has a โReport Abuseโ link โ by clicking it, customers and sellers can flag a review for Amazonโs investigation. Sellers should use their accountโs Seller Central to open cases on suspicious reviews, providing Order IDs and review links. While Amazon handles the final decision, each report adds to the signals Amazon uses to refine its detection models.
In practice, Amazon claims the vast majority of products have no fake reviews, thanks to these measures. But no system is perfect, which is why sellers need to do their part (and know how to escalate when necessary).
Bonus Read: 7 Effective Ways to Get Reviews on Amazon for Sellers
Conclusion
Schedule a Call with an Amazon Expert
Fake reviews are a serious challenge for Amazon sellers, but with the right approach, you can uncover and counteract review fraud.
If youโre unsure about any reviews on your listings or just want peace of mind, donโt go it alone. Schedule a call with an Amazon expert to audit your product reviews and account health. An experienced consultant can set up automated alerts, help you interpret review data, and even work with Amazon on abuse claims. Taking proactive steps now will safeguard your reputation and revenue in the long run.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Author
Aarushi Bansal is a driven Customer Success specialist who thrives on navigating complex business challenges. Known for her proactive mindset, she turns obstacles into opportunities for growth. Outside work, Aarushi enjoys sparking innovative conversations and exploring fresh perspectives.
