Holiday shopping 2025: how to detect fake reviews on Amazon and avoid buying a dud

More and more Americans are turning to shopping online to purchase their Christmas gifts. The convenience of using e-retailers to do your holiday shopping can’t be understated. But at the same time it can be even more arduous than going out to a store.

That’s because, often times, when scrolling through products on a screen you’re asking yourself, “Is this product any good?” To answer that question, you look at the customer reviews for peace of mind. But can you really trust those?

Unfortunately, too often the answer is no. But there are ways to parse out which reviews are the real deal, and which ones are yanking your chain.

Fake reviews: the scourge of online shopping

Fake reviews are not solely the scourge of shopping on Amazon but affect other big names like Target, Walmart, and others. And while unscrupulous retailers are constantly working to sell you lemons through using fake reviews, there are ways to see through their shenanigans according to Wired magazine.

Although the outlet warns that nothing in their advice is “a foolproof way to spot fakes,” at least you can get a general idea of what to look for when shopping online. Here are some common red flags that Wired says to watch out for.

Red flags for online fake reviews

First and foremost, watch out for too many five-star reviews. Be careful with the four-star reviews as well, as scoundrels trying to game the system know that while you may be wary of overly generous five-stars, perhaps they can hook you with a slightly lower rating.

However, from what the team at Wired has seen up to now, “no one is paying for two- or three-star reviews.”

When checking reviews, look to see if the product review is trying to explain away cons. Or that a “customer” gave a glowing review but complains about one small defect that really wouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

Generic titles to the review such as “Nice product” or “Awesome” can be a waring sign. Especially if followed with a lack of detail or just vague praise of the product in question.

Are all the reviews similar to each other? Were they all posted on the same date but others are from much later? Then, you may want to be skeptical. Also pay attention to the grammar and spelling in the review as it may indicate that a bot was doing the typing.

Does the review bash a competing product? Well then you should also check that reviewer’s list of other products that they’ve bought, in the “Customers also bought” section. This is something that you can do no matter what to see if they are “purchasing” and “reviewing” lots of unrelated products, and how they are talking about them.

Wired warns that you may see some of these red flags in legitimate reviews. So, you may need to dig a little bit deeper. The ways you can do that include the following:

• Check the reviews on the product on other sites
• Look up the product brand online
• Check out the reviewer’s profile

Typically you don’t need to worry about big name brands, but hopefully these tips can help you sift through whether those lesser-known brands may be worth clicking ‘buy’ or if you may end up getting a dud.

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