How to Spot and Protect Your Business from Fake Reviews

Online reviews help customers decide whether to trust a business, buy a product or book a service. But not every review comes from a real customer.

Fake reviews can be used to damage a competitor, promote a scam or even pressure a business owner into paying money to make negative reviews disappear. For a small business, the consequences can include lost customers, reputational damage and a lot of time spent trying to clean up the mess.

Here’s how to spot fake reviews, what to do when your business is targeted and how to protect your reputation online.

Key takeaways:

• Fake reviews may be used to damage competitors, promote scams or extort businesses.
• Warning signs include vague or extreme language, repeated wording, suspicious reviewer profiles and a sudden wave of similar reviews.
• If you find a fake review, document it, report it to the platform and respond professionally when appropriate.
• Never pay someone who threatens to post or remove fake reviews in exchange for money.
• Regularly monitoring reviews and other mentions of your business can help you catch suspicious activity earlier.

Why Do Scammers Post Fake Reviews About Businesses?

Even if your products or services are excellent, you might still get hit with bad or malicious reviews that scare away potential customers. It can be frustrating and confusing—why would anyone do this? It all comes down to one thing: manipulating public perception for their own benefit. 

For example:

To Undermine competitors: Scammers might post false negative reviews about a business to make their company (or one that hired them) look better. This tactic is often used to damage a competitor's reputation and steal customers.

To promote their scams. Malicious actors promote their scams by using fake positive reviews to make their low-quality products or services appear trustworthy.

One common scheme is known as the "brushing scam." In this scam, scammers steal the names and addresses of real shoppers from online marketplaces. They then create fake accounts using this information, "purchase" their products, and leave fake positive reviews under the stolen names. As a result, the actual shoppers receive mysterious packages they never ordered, which can include either the intended products or random junk.

While receiving free items might initially seem harmless, these victims have had their personal information compromised. Their details could be sold or used for identity theft in the future. Victims might share their negative experiences online, damaging the reputation of businesses that had nothing to do with the scam.  

To blackmail businesses owners: In some cases, scammers use fake reviews as a form of extortion: they post negative reviews about a business and ask money to remove them. This puts pressure on businesses, especially small ones, that feel they have no choice but to pay to protect their reputation.

In 2022, restaurants all over America were being targeted by a fake review scam. Scammers created numerous one-star reviews on Google, then days later, demanded money to remove them. 

How Fake Reviews Can Hurt Your Business

Search engines like Google want to recommend the best businesses to their users. They use reviews, including negative ones, to determine which companies are trustworthy and which might let their users down.

• Damaged reputation: A few bad reviews can shake the trust potential customers have in your business, causing them to second-guess whether they should choose you.
• Lost sales: For many customers, reviews are the deciding factor when making a purchase. If they come across negative reviews, even if they're fake, they may reconsider their choice.
• Lower search rankings: Negative reviews can lower your business's ranking on search engines, making it harder for potential customers to find you online.
• Wasted resources: Dealing with fake reviews can be time-consuming and costly. Whether you're spending time addressing them, paying for reputation management services, or dealing with legal issues, it drains resources that could be better spent growing your business.

How to Spot a Fake Review: 5 Red Flags

Here are some tips:

• Generic or overly positive/extremely negative language: Fake reviews often use vague, exaggerated phrases like "amazing product" or "best service ever" without providing any actual details. Overly negative reviews with no specific context or explanation may be intended to harm a business rather than offer genuine feedback.
• Length and specificity: Fake reviews tend to be either very short or unnecessarily long. They may offer glowing praise or harsh criticism but lack useful, specific information about the product or service.
• Unusual patterns: Watch for reviews that appear in clusters within a short time frame. If several reviews use almost the same language, it's a strong indicator of fake reviews being posted in bulk.
• Repetitive phrases: A common giveaway is the use of similar or identical wording across multiple reviews. If you notice the same phrases repeating either in different reviews or within a single review, that's a red flag.
• Shady reviewer profiles: Take a closer look at who's leaving the review. Fake reviewers often have sparse profiles, limited activity, or seem to only leave extreme reviews—either overly positive or extremely negative. If the account looks suspicious or targets only one business, it's worth questioning the credibility of the reviews.

What to Do If Your Business Gets a Fake Review

If you've received fake reviews about your business, taking action can help protect your reputation.

• Respond calmly and professionally: Avoid getting defensive, respond politely, addressing any concerns raised.

You have two options:

1. Private Response: Reach out to the reviewer privately, giving them a chance to remove their review. This approach may help resolve the issue amicably.

2. Public Response: You can respond publicly in a professional and thoughtful manner. This allows others to understand the context of the review, whether you dispute its claims, and how your business addresses customer feedback.

• Report the review: Most review platforms, such as Google, Yelp, and Trustpilot, allow businesses to report fake reviews. Gather evidence showing the review is false or malicious, and submit it to the platform for removal.

How to do it:

• Check the website's review policy or guidelines. If you believe the review violates these policies, request its removal.
• Include as many factual details as possible to show that the review is inaccurate or not reflective of your business's services, products, or location.
• If you suspect that a competitor wrote the review, provide relevant details to the review platform. This can help them check IP addresses and determine the source of the review.
• Encourage genuine reviews: Ask satisfied customers to leave honest reviews. The more legitimate, positive reviews you accumulate, the easier it is to overshadow fake ones. Genuine feedback also builds trust with new customers.
• Monitor reviews regularly: Keep a close eye on your business's online reputation. By regularly checking for fake reviews, you can address them quickly before they cause too much damage.
• Consider legal action: In some cases, such as repeated fake reviews or extortion, consult a lawyer to explore legal options. This may be necessary if scammers are causing significant harm to your business or using fake reviews to blackmail you.

How to Protect Your Small Business from Fake Reviews

Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security offers solutions to help you stay on top of this challenge with its powerful tools.

Here are two specific ways you can use the product:

1. Monitor Your Business's Digital Identity with Business Assets Exposure 

To protect your business from fake reviews, the first step is to track when your business is mentioned online, even beyond your website or social media pages. Bitdefender's Business Assets Exposure tool helps monitor your business digital identity, alerting you of mentions of your business name, email, or other important information. If your data appears in breaches or is misused, you'll receive immediate notifications, enabling you to take action before the situation escalates.

2. Use Scam Copilot to Detect Fake Reviews

Make the difference between a genuine but upset customer and a scammer with Scam Copilot. Scammers are increasingly sophisticated, and their fake reviews often seem convincing.

Scam Copilot is an AI-powered tool designed to analyze and identify suspicious patterns associated with scams. Just input the text or URL of the review, and Scam Copilot will analyze it for you, providing the confidence you need to take appropriate action.

Business Assets Exposure and Scam Copilot are part of Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security, a comprehensive solution consistently reaching the top positions in industry tests for protection and performance.

Find out more about the plans here.

FAQs

How can you tell if a review is fake?

Fake reviews may use vague or exaggerated language, repeat phrases found in other reviews, provide few specific details about the actual experience or come from suspicious profiles. A sudden cluster of similar reviews can also be a warning sign.

What should a business do about a fake Google review?

Document the review and any related evidence, then report it through Google's review reporting process if it violates Google's policies. If you respond publicly, keep the response factual and professional rather than accusing the reviewer of fraud without evidence.

Can fake reviews hurt a small business?

Yes. Fake negative reviews can affect customer trust and potentially influence purchasing decisions. They can also take time and resources to investigate, report and respond to.

Can a business get a fake review removed?

Potentially. Review platforms generally allow businesses to report reviews that violate their policies. Removal isn't guaranteed, so provide as much relevant evidence as possible when submitting a report.

What is a fake review extortion scam?

In a fake review extortion scam, criminals threaten to post negative reviews—or offer to remove reviews they've already posted—unless the business pays them. Businesses should document the threats, report the reviews and extortion attempt, and avoid paying the scammer.

How can small businesses protect themselves from fake reviews?

Monitor major review platforms and mentions of your business, encourage genuine customers to leave honest feedback, investigate unusual review activity and report suspicious reviews quickly. Employees who manage your online presence should also know how to recognize review scams and extortion attempts.