Whether it's a desktop or smartphone, when you're considering purchasing a new piece of technology, you want to know about what others think of it. A great way to do so is to check out the online reviews of the product to get some feedback on how the device is working out for people. Have any of the reviewers complained of already needing phone or computer repair? Or are they all giving five stars?

While online reviews can often be very helpful, unfortunately, it is also very easy for people to leave fake reviews, which typically give glowing recommendations and may persuade you to buy a product that actually isn't half as great as it sounds. In fact, according to Bloomberg, nearly 30 percent of online reviews are fake. Oftentimes, these reviews come from someone who works for the company that created the product as an attempt to get more sales. In some cases, however, the product itself could even be fake, and the scammer is using made up reviews to make it look more legitimate.

Either way, you should always be wary of online reviews – here are a few ways to spot fake ones right away:

• It's too good to be true. If all of the reviewers give the product five stars, gush about its perfection and use an excessive amount of exclamation marks, chances are, they're fake. If a product sounds too good to be true, it is.

• It reads like an advertisement. Real people don't rattle off 15 product features in reviews, they talk about performance, value and reliability. If the reviewers don't touch upon those topics, they may be writing with a bias.

• The reviewers themselves seem shady. Are the usernames variations of each other? Were the reviews all written on the same day? Have these people reviewed other products? Do a little research into the reviewers, too.

If you think you may have downloaded or ordered a fake product, contact your bank to stop the payment, and contact your local Virginia computer repair service to conduct a thorough spyware removal scan.