Is it illegal to write fake reviews in the UK?

Writing fake reviews was already risky under older consumer protection rules, but the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 removed any ambiguity. From 6 April 2025, fake reviews sit on the statutory blacklist of banned commercial practices, and blacklisted practices are automatically unfair, with no need for a regulator to prove any consumer was actually misled.

The Act defines a fake consumer review as one that purports to be, but is not, based on a person's genuine experience. That wording is broad on purpose. A review from someone who never used the business, a review written by the owner under another name, a friends-and-family favour dressed as a customer experience, and a purchased five-star all fall inside it.

The ban catches more than the writer. Commissioning fake reviews, meaning paying or asking someone else to produce them, is banned. So is publishing consumer reviews without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to detect and remove fakes, which is aimed at platforms and at any business displaying reviews on its own site.

It also covers concealed incentives. A review that is genuine but was paid for or rewarded without that being disclosed is treated as misleading under the same regime, which is why competitions, discounts and freebies for reviews are a trap even when the customer is real.

The Competition and Markets Authority published dedicated fake reviews guidance, CMA208, alongside the new regime, and allowed a short grace period that ended in 2025. Enforcement is now fully live, so for a small business the practical position is simple: every review must come from a real customer's real experience, unrewarded and unfiltered.