You spend a lot money on Amazon Prime. And, you rely on reviews to help you make purchase decisions. In fact, reviews can make or break a company’s success on Amazon.

With more than 450,000 different companies that are NOT owned or controlled by Amazon – many who are based in China and elsewhere overseas – now selling products on Amazon, there’s a lot of incentives for companies to fake their own reviews, and have developed elaborate schemes to dupe consumers with fake reviews.

However, we’ve discovered one simple trick to help you spot companies posting fake reviews and save you from being tricked into buying products not up to par:

• Always check reviews before buying anything on Amazon – Even with generous return policies that can be a hassle, it’s always “buyer beware” – so dig a little deeper and try this simple trick that’s saved us the hassle from buying products that don’t make the grade
• Amazon ranks reviews based on “TOP REVIEWS” by default.
• Instead, sort reviews by “MOST RECENT” – Fake reviews are generally posted months ago, so recent reviews are a more reliable (but still not perfect) way to evaluate a product
• Select and prioritize reviews “FROM THE UNITED STATES” to help narrow reviews

Let us know your strategies for spotting fake reviews on Amazon!