Nearly every online retailer has some kind of user review system that allows people to offer public feedback on what they bought, whether it was as advertised, and whether it was worth it. This deters sellers from scamming innocent customers.

But what about fake reviews? They certainly exist and they can be hard to spot, especially on Amazon where fake reviews are rampant.

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No matter how observant and smart you think you are, you've probably fallen for a few before. And no, just because a reviewer has "Verified Purchase" next to their name doesn't mean that their review is genuine!

Sellers now hire people to buy items and post fake reviews, which in turn deceives people like you and me into thinking that certain items are better than they really are.

They influence us to spend money on things we shouldn't buy and that ends up hurting our wallets in the long run.

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That's why you need to start using Fakespot, a website that checks an Amazon product page and grades the user reviews based on how "fake" they seem. All you need to do is copy-paste the product page URL. That's it.

So the next time you're looking at user reviews on Amazon, run it through Fakespot and see if you can trust what they're saying. Fakespot isn't perfect, but it can give you a good idea of what you're dealing with.

Want to save even more money? Check out our tips for being frugal while loving tech and gadgets.

Have you tried Fakespot before? What do you think of it? Do you think fake reviews are a serious problem? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Amazon via Shutterstock