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Fake reviews are effectively a breach of consumer duty, FCA warns

ended 08. June 2026

Fake reviews are effectively a breach of consumer duty, The FCA has said.

The FCA was asked whether misleading, manipulated or inauthentic reviews represent a risk to fair consumer outcomes under the Consumer Duty framework.

Its response was carefully worded but highly significant. The regulator stated: "Misleading or inauthentic information, where it materially affects how consumers understand products or services, could undermine those outcomes."

At first glance, this may appear to be a straightforward observation. In reality, it represents a direct acknowledgement that fake reviews can create Consumer Duty risks.

Consumer Understanding is one of the four core outcomes within Consumer Duty. Firms are expected to help customers make effective, timely and informed decisions, supported by information that is fair, clear and not misleading.

If manipulated reviews distort a consumer's understanding of a product, service or provider, the FCA is explicitly recognising that the resulting harm may fall within the Consumer Duty framework.

  • Is this an important shift?
  • Are mortgage brokers and IFAs etc at risk of being in breach of consumer duty if reviews are faked or not genuine?
  • How widespread is fake reviews in this industry?

Responses today.

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
This is important that this is being acknowledged but this is inherently bad on any platform. It is impossible to know which reviews are real, manufactured, bought or fake. It is no different to 'recommendations' on social media where people will recommend friends not businesses that they have actually used and can truly vouch for quality, reputation, skill or workmanship.
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Martin Rayner
Financial Adviser at Compton Financial Services
The FCA’s stance is long overdue. It is not unheard of for firms to suddenly appear with vague, generic five-star reviews that tell consumers very little about the service. Once that starts, other firms feel pressure to compete on the same basis and trust in the whole review system is lost.

If fake or manipulated reviews influence a customer’s choice of mortgage broker or financial adviser, that should clearly create a Consumer Duty risk. Consumers cannot make informed decisions if the information shaping those decisions is misleading from the outset.

Businesses that have spent years building genuine client feedback should not be competing against firms manufacturing credibility.

It is hard to know how widespread the issue is beyond anecdotal examples. I have seen more suspicious review patterns around mortgage brokers than IFAs, partly because mortgage clients are generally more comfortable leaving public reviews, while financial planning clients often prefer greater privacy.
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Nouran Moustafa
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
This is an important shift because reviews are not harmless decoration. In financial services, trust is part of the decision-making process. If a client chooses a mortgage broker or IFA because the online reputation has been manipulated, their understanding has already been distorted before advice even begins.

Any regulated firm using fake, incentivised or misleading reviews is playing with Consumer Duty risk. It could affect consumer understanding, fair value and trust in the whole advice process. You cannot say you are helping clients make informed decisions while artificially engineering the evidence they rely on.

I cannot say how widespread it is, but the temptation is obvious. Reviews drive enquiries, enquiries drive revenue, and firms under pressure may cut corners.

My view is simple: if the review is not genuine, it should not be there. In advice, reputation has to be earned, not manufactured.
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Harry Goodliffe
Director at HTG Mortgages
Trust is becoming a compliance issue. The FCA's comments may look subtle, but they're actually quite big. Consumer Duty is all about helping customers make informed decisions, and fake reviews undermine that. Any broker relying on reviews they know aren't genuine could be taking a bigger regulatory risk than they realise.