The Truth About Fake TEFL Online Pro Reviews
Recent research by the Federal Trade Commission has found that up to 30% of all online reviews are fake, and most consumers are unable to tell the difference.
Fake reviews are a problem across all industries, and the online TEFL sector is no exception.
In the online TEFL industry, fake reviews typically appear in two forms: positive reviews written by a program about itself, or negative reviews of competing programs authored by rival TEFL providers.
How to Identify Fake Reviews
The clearest sign of fake reviews is when a TEFL program suddenly racks up a large number of reviews—whether glowing or critical. Some programs have even gained a reputation for this tactic.
If a program is pushing certain review websites, take a closer look. Check the dates of the reviews—if more than two appear on the same day, there’s a good chance that some, or even all, were written by the program itself.
Another way to spot a fake review is by looking closely at the language used.
If someone posts a review and then follows up with a string of other posts or reviews, there’s a good chance the original review isn’t genuine. In the online TEFL world, Reddit is often misused in this way. Affiliate marketers—paid to promote programs—also contribute to this trend by writing blog posts and leaving comments online.
Why Some TEFL Programs Rely on Fake Reviews
The most common reason some TEFL programs rely on fake reviews is simple: to attract more students. They count on people believing the reviews and signing up for their courses.
It’s also common for programs to post negative reviews about their competitors, claiming things like “the certificate was useless” or “this TEFL program is a scam.”
Some programs even go further. For example, one has paid affiliate marketers to take competing courses so they can trash them online—and then “prove” their claims by pretending to be real graduates.
We experienced this firsthand last year when TTA The TEFL Academy paid an affiliate marketer to take our flagship 120-hour Professional TEFL/TESOL Certification Course. Within just one hour of receiving her certificate, she claimed she had already applied to schools but been rejected. Of course, it was completely false. Over the past year, she’s continued to post these complaints online—a level of behavior you wouldn’t expect from a genuine graduate.
Why People Fall for Fake Reviews
People fall for fake reviews because they are carefully crafted to seem authentic. In the case of fake negative reviews, this is amplified by a psychological phenomenon called negativity bias.
Negativity bias is a psychological phenomenon where people give more weight to negative information than to positive or neutral information. In the context of reviews, it explains why:
- A single bad review can outweigh several good reviews.
- People are more likely to remember negative experiences or warnings.
- Consumers may assume negative reviews are more “honest” or trustworthy.
Being able to spot fake reviews is crucial, because the program behind them could be a scam—signing you up and leaving you with very little in return.
Examples of Fake TEFL Online Pro Reviews
The first image in this article shows a few Reddit posts that were started by individuals working for a business competitor.
One of the threads was initiated by the fake graduate we mentioned earlier. Another thread was also started by a competitor, this time using SEO-friendly keywords like “Is TEFL Online Pro Legit?”
After the initial posts, there is a sudden rush of comments from accounts associated with the TEFL competitor and other online TEFL programs.
Some niche Reddit communities are known to be biased, as this allows moderators to justify the significant amount of time they spend managing the subreddit. In some cases, they receive kickbacks from certain online TEFL programs in exchange for clandestine promotions and the ability to publicly discredit their competitors.
Here’s another fake TEFL Online Pro review that targets other programs as well:
At first glance, you might think ESLinsider is a trustworthy TEFL whistleblower site—and it’s easy to see why, since it’s carefully designed to look legitimate.
But with over 20 years of experience in the TEFL industry, we can confirm that ESLinsider was really set up to funnel people into taking just one online TEFL course: the one offered by ESLinsider itself.
The site is run by Ian Patrick Leahy—a man who has been banned from Facebook since 2017 for spreading misinformation.
He’s also been known to advise his graduates to buy fake degrees—a practice that landed several young Western teachers in a Chinese prison before they were unceremoniously deported.
Would you want that to happen to you? Of course not.
Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketers are a big problem in the online TEFL industry.
You might stumble across a blog post claiming that the author was earning $100 an hour teaching English online through [fill in the blank] TEFL program, and feel tempted to sign up. But by the time you realize it, it’s too late—you can’t realistically earn that much online, and the author never even took the course.
In reality, they were paid to write the post and earned a commission whenever someone purchased the course.
And this isn’t just an online TEFL problem—it happens in all sorts of industries.
Here’s one example:
Take a look at the “60% Sale” mention. Now, think about it—why would a real graduate spend so much time promoting a TEFL program’s course sale and actively show up in Google searches for that program (The TEFL Academy)?
Could it be that they’re being paid to promote the courses? Or are they just a super generous person who genuinely wants to tell the world—spending countless hours in the process—about a TEFL program they took?
We know you’re smart enough to figure out the real reason.
Interestingly, this affiliate marketer spread misinformation about TEFL Online Pro a few years ago.
She started a thread on Reddit, wrote a blog post, and followed it up with fake comments—exactly the same approach used by the fake TEFL Online Pro graduate we mentioned earlier. That graduate, who was paid to take our 120-hour course last year, also started a Reddit thread, created a blog post, and filled it with fake comments.
Why TEFL Online Pro Takes This Seriously
We take this seriously because we’ve spent years building a strong reputation—only to have a few competitors try to convince people not to take our courses and push their own instead.
That’s why we openly call out competitors who engage in this kind of negative marketing.
Wouldn’t you do the same?
If you want to see authentic TEFL Online Pro reviews, we recommend checking platforms where real students share their experiences:
TEFL Online Pro reviews on Facebook:
https://facebook.com/teflonlinepro/reviews/
TEFL Online Pro reviews on Trusted TEFL Reviews:
https://trustedteflreviews.com/category/tefl-online-pro-reviews-in-2025/
TEFL Online Pro reviews on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@teflonlinepro
TEFL Online Pro reviews on teflonlinepro.com:
https://teflonlinepro.com/tefl-online-pro-reviews/
TEFL Online Pro review on Cambodia Bucket List:
https://cambodiabucketlist.com/tefl-online-pro-reviews/
The main reason we created https://tefl-online-pro-reviews.com/ was simple: to set the record straight and address any misleading claims made by competitors online.
Conclusion
We want to wrap up by making one thing clear: not all online TEFL programs engage in negative marketing or attacks on competitors.
That said, we really don’t understand why the likes of TTA The TEFL Academy do this—it must take a lot of planning to pull off these kinds of campaigns.
If no one calls them out, they’ll likely feel emboldened, as if they have free rein to continue.
Ironically, TTA The TEFL Academy has only been under its current owners since around 2021. Before that, it was a very reputable company with no fake awards or reviews, and we never had any issues with the former owners.
Meanwhile, ESLinsider has long relied on a business model of spreading misinformation, using it to mislead people into taking his course.
There are plenty of online TEFL programs out there, and this post isn’t meant to be a hard sell for TEFL Online Pro.
Instead, it’s a sincere attempt to raise awareness about fake reviews and help you protect yourself from misinformation.
For any unanswered questions, please contact us via the TEFL Online Pro official website: https://teflonlinepro.com/contact-us/
Thank you for visiting the TEFL Online Pro Reviews homepage.
Paul Murphy | Operations Manager | TEFL Online Pro
Enroll now
Read our Facebook reviews
Watch our YouTube channel
Teachers’ Choice Award winner: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025
TEFL Online Pro Reviews 