What could fake reviews cost your business?
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, your business is responsible for fake reviews on its profiles — even ones you didn't write. Enter your annual turnover to see your maximum exposure.
The CMA can fine a business up to £300,000 or 10% of annual global turnover — whichever is greater. At this turnover, the £300,000 statutory floor is your ceiling.
How the fine works
The DMCCA received Royal Assent in May 2024 and the CMA's consumer enforcement powers went live in April 2025. For the first time, the CMA can fine businesses directly — no court case needed — up to the greater of £300,000 or 10% of annual global turnover for breaches of consumer protection law, which now explicitly includes fake reviews.
Three things catch businesses out:
- The duty sits with you, not the platform. If a review on your profile is fake, commissioned, bought, or from someone who never visited, your business is responsible — regardless of whether you knew.
- "Fake" is broader than you think. Undisclosed incentives ("free dessert for a 5-star review"), cherry-picking which customers get asked, and suppressing genuine negative reviews all count.
- The floor is £300,000. The 10%-of-turnover figure gets headlines, but for a small business the statutory minimum ceiling is what matters — it applies to sole traders and independents too.
This is not hypothetical. In March 2026 the CMA opened formal investigations into five businesses — including Just Eat, AutoTrader, and Pasta Evangelists — for review practices. Read the CMA announcement →
The defence is proof. The businesses that will sail through a CMA inquiry are the ones that can show every review is from a real customer, at a real location, with an audit trail. That's what Heard does — one voice, one place, one moment in time.
This calculator is general information, not legal advice. Maximum penalties under the DMCCA depend on the breach and the CMA's penalty framework; figures shown are the statutory maximums.