Review Moderation Policy

Reviews are the heart of TipsterCheck. If they can't be trusted, nothing else on the site matters. This page explains — in plain English — exactly how we collect, verify and moderate every review, and the specific steps we take to stop fake reviews, self-promotion and competitors sabotaging their rivals.

The two kinds of "verified" — and what each proves

You'll see two different verification badges on our reviews. They mean different things, so here's the exact distinction:

• Verified (green badge on every published review) means the review was posted from a registered account with a confirmed email address and was checked by our moderation team before it went live. There are no anonymous reviews on TipsterCheck.
• Verified customer (blue badge) is a higher bar: the reviewer has uploaded proof they actually subscribed to that tipster — for example a receipt or subscription confirmation. Our team checks the proof by hand and, once approved, the proof image is shown on their review so you can see it too. Reviewers are asked to black out card numbers, bank balances and any personal financial details before uploading.

A "Verified customer" badge is the strongest signal that a review reflects a genuine paying experience. A plain "Verified" badge still means a real, email-confirmed, human-checked account — just without uploaded purchase proof.

How moderation works, step by step

1. You register and confirm your email address. Only confirmed accounts can post.
2. You submit a review. It does not go live — it enters a moderation queue.
3. Our team reads every review by hand and checks it comes from a genuine account, isn't abuse, spam, personal data or a defamatory claim, and reads like a real experience rather than a plant.
4. Only then is it published and counted towards the tipster's star rating and Trust Score.
5. If you edit a review later, it goes back through the same check before the changes appear.

How we stop fake and competitor reviews

Because we approve reviews manually before publication, the obvious attacks are caught at the door rather than cleaned up afterwards. Specifically, we reject or remove:

• Self-reviews. A tipster reviewing their own profile to inflate their score.
• Competitor sabotage. A rival service posting negative reviews to drag down a competitor. Reviews that read like a coordinated hit rather than a genuine customer experience are removed.
• Review bombing. A sudden burst of one-star (or five-star) reviews is a red flag — we investigate spikes before they can distort a rating.
• Incentivised or paid reviews. Reviews written in exchange for money, free access or any other reward.
• Throwaway and duplicate accounts. You can leave one review per tipster. You can't create multiple accounts or stack ratings to move a score.

Anyone can also flag a published review with the report button — it goes straight back to our team for a fresh check.

No paid reviews — ever

We do not accept payment for reviews, and tipsters cannot pay to add, remove, edit or reorder reviews. Sponsored or featured placements (clearly labelled) affect where a tipster appears in some lists, but they have no effect on that tipster's reviews, star rating or Trust Score. See how we make money for full detail.

Right to reply

Tipsters who have claimed their profile get a public right to reply on any review. We believe disputes are better handled transparently in the open than by quietly deleting criticism.

Verified vs claimed (for profiles)

Separately from reviews, a tipster profile can be claimed (the owner controls the page) or verified (our team has independently checked the profile). Neither status lets a tipster alter or delete genuine user reviews. Read more in how we score tipsters.

What we can — and can't — promise

We can promise that every published review is from a real, email-confirmed account and was checked by a human before going live, and that we actively hunt for self-reviews, sabotage and review-bombing. We can't read minds — no review platform can guarantee every single opinion is perfectly fair. That's why we show the number of reviews behind each rating and favour tipsters with a transparent long-term record over a wall of five stars. We'd rather show a tipster with few reviews than fake ones.

Under the UK's consumer-protection rules we take the authenticity of reviews seriously — and we think it's simply the right thing to do. Please also read our responsible gambling guidance. 18+.