Risk check

Fake review checker

Review wording is now directly regulated in every major market ComplyAds covers, and platforms police it hard.

Fake reviews, and incentivised reviews that are undisclosed or conditioned on a positive rating, are prohibited or treated as misleading under EU Omnibus rules, the UK DMCC Act, Canada's Competition Act, Australia's ACL and US FTC law (including the fake-reviews rule, 16 CFR Part 465). Offering an incentive for any honest review, clearly disclosed, is not banned as such — but Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop bar sellers from offering review incentives outside their own approved programmes.

An example that gets flagged

ComplyAds highlights wording like this in your listing, explains why it is a risk in plain English, and cites the law behind it and, where the platform publishes one, links its policy — so it is clear what to change before you publish.

The law behind it

This is policed across the markets ComplyAds covers, and each flag cites the specific rule rather than just the act:

• EU — Omnibus Dir (EU) 2019/2161 -> UCPD Annex I (fake / undisclosed reviews = banned practice)
• UK — DMCC Act 2024 Sch 20 (fake reviews banned); CMA direct enforcement
• Canada — Competition Act s.74.01(1)(a) (false or misleading representations) — the anchor for fabricated or AI-generated reviews; s.52 for the criminal limb. NB: s.74.02 reaches unauthorised or altered use of a GENUINE testimonial and does not cover an invented review, so it is not the primary anchor here.
• Australia — ACL s.29(1)(e)-(f) (testimonials; reverse onus) + s.18
• US — FTC 16 CFR Part 465 — fake/AI reviews rule (civil penalties per violation, with the maximum adjusted annually for inflation; a maximum, not a standard amount)

Disclosure of paid or incentivised endorsements — influencer posts and incentivised customer reviews alike (the FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 CFR Part 255; the ASA “Ad” label) — isn’t part of this check: it flags risky review and incentive wording, and can’t tell whether a required disclosure is missing.

How to fix a flagged claim

Only publish reviews you can substantiate, disclose any incentive clearly and prominently, and never fabricate, buy or reword customer feedback. Drop blanket assertions like “verified 5-star reviews” unless you can back them up.

Where it applies

5 of the 7 platforms ComplyAds checks publish a dedicated policy on this (Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, TikTok Shop). On the others (Meta, Shopify), it falls under their general listing rules or the advertising law above. ComplyAds screens against EU Omnibus · UK DMCC Act · CA Competition Act · AU ACL · US FTC (16 CFR 465).

Flags, not verdicts. ComplyAds is an informational risk check, not legal advice. A flag is a prompt to look more closely, not proof of a breach — genuine, substantiated claims are fine. For anything borderline, get professional advice before you publish.

Questions