Guide
How to spot a fake review
Eight checks anyone can make before trusting a review or a score, from the reviewer's history to bursts of praise, drawn from consumer regulators' advice.
By Agoo Reviews ·
Most reviews are honest. A few are written by the business itself, by a rival, or by someone who was paid or rewarded. Regulators who deal with fake reviews give much the same advice, and none of it needs special tools. Here are eight checks you can make on any review site, Agoo Reviews included.
1. Look at who wrote it
Open the reviewer’s profile when there is one. Someone who has reviewed several different places over time is more likely to be real than an account with one glowing review. On Agoo Reviews, profiles show the month someone joined and how many reviews they’ve written.
2. Watch for bursts
Many reviews arriving within a few days, all very good or all very bad, is a warning sign, especially for a place that otherwise gets few. Sort by newest and look at the dates.
3. Look for the same words
Fake reviews are often written in batches. The same phrases, titles or spelling slips appearing across different reviewers point to one writer.
4. Prefer detail
A real experience usually comes with specifics: what was bought, which branch, how long the wait was, who helped. “Best place ever, highly recommended” tells you very little.
5. Read the low scores as well as the high ones
The one- and two-star reviews tell you what goes wrong when it goes wrong, and whether the business answers. Remember that fake reviews can be negative too: a run of angry reviews from new accounts may be a rival at work.
6. Check for rewards
Watch for reviews that mention a discount, a gift or an entry into a draw for writing them. A business may ask every customer for a review, but rewarding only good ones, or asking only happy customers, gives a picture you can’t trust. Agoo Reviews doesn’t allow either.
7. See how it was checked
On Agoo Reviews every review carries a label saying what was checked about the person behind it: a Verified visit means Agoo’s own record shows a check-in or booking at that place; Invited means the business sent its review link to all its customers; Phone confirmed and Email confirmed mean the account has a confirmed number or address. A label never says a review is true, only what was checked. You can filter a page to Verified visits only.
8. Use more than one source
Compare what different sites, friends and family say. One source is easier to game than several.
If you think a review is fake
Report it. On Agoo Reviews, write to agoo@ardentafrica.com with the page’s address and what looks wrong. A review written by someone connected to the business or a competitor, or one that was rewarded, is removed under our guidelines, and the score is worked out again without it.
The law elsewhere
Fake reviews are now illegal in several countries. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission’s rule banning fake reviews and testimonials took effect on 21 October 2024. In the United Kingdom, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 banned fake and concealed incentivised reviews from 6 April 2025, and requires sites that publish reviews to take reasonable steps to prevent and remove them.