The Federal Trade Commission announced that it just sued GovAssist LLC and Entry LLC, as well as the companies' owner, alleging that they misled consumers in connection with the marketing of passport and other travel-related services.  

Government Impersonation

In the complaint, the FTC alleged that the Defendants operated an “impersonation scheme” to induce consumers to pay for passports and other travel-related services by creating the appearance that they are the federal government or are affiliated with it.  

The FTC said that the Defendants' Google search ads, which appeared as sponsored results above the official U.S. Department of State website in search results, “shape consumers' net impression that Defendants are the government and frame consumers' interactions with Defendants going forward."  The FTC explained, “By positioning their deceptive websites, which use misleading language and images to suggest they are official government or government-affiliated websites, and Google advertisements where consumers would expect to find and access official government websites and services, Defendants led consumers to believe that they were dealing with the federal government or an authorized government-affiliated provider.” 

The FTC also alleged that the Defendants' advertisements also used creative elements – such as official-looking images of passports and American flags as well as language that is similar to the language used on government websites – to mislead consumers into believing that they are dealing with the government.  

Fake Reviews

The FTC also alleged that the Defendants posted fake consumer reviews about their companies on Trustpilot and then misrepresented the number of positive reviews that they have in order “to make their passport-related services appear legitimate.”  

In addition, the FTC said that the Defendants misled consumers by promoting the “excellent” rating that the companies have on Trustpilot and by featuring examples of five-start reviews “as representative of their consumer reviews on Trustpilot overall.” 

Some Important Takeaways

Although this lawsuit has just been filed, there are still some important takeaways for all advertisers.  

First, it should come as no surprise to marketers that the FTC is focused on government impersonation schemes.  The FTC's relatively new Impersonation Rule went into effect in 2024.  And recently, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige highlighted that the FTC's continuing concerns about impersonation scams, saying, “Free markets depend on trust, transparency and consumers' ability to make informed choices.  Impersonation scams – especially when amplified by digital platforms that profit from them – do more than rob Americans of their hard-earned money.  They erode the foundation that allows competitive markets to function."  The bottom line is here that marketers have to be careful about not confusing consumers about their affiliation with government or businesses.

Second, the FTC's focus on search advertising – and the potential for search ads to mislead consumers, just based on where the ads appear – is something that marketers pay attention to.  The FTC's allegations here suggest that, at least in some situations, delivering search advertising that directs consumers to a competitor may be a deceptive practice.  

Third, this lawsuit is an important reminder that it's likely going to be problematic to promote a company's or a product's average star rating where that rating is based, in part, on ratings that were incentivized.  For most marketers, the better practice is likely going to be to promote a star rating that is only based on non-incentivized reivews.

Finally, while it is also no surprise that the FTC said that it's a deceptive practice to use fake consumer reviews, it's worth noting that the FTC also indicated that it believed that posting a group of five star reviews on the website, under a heading “What our customers say,” falsely communicates the message that these reviews are “representative of their consumer reviews on Trustpilot overall."  Generally, advertisers are free to selectively tout good reviews that the company received, so long as the company doesn't falsely communicate that those reviews are typical of the company's reviews.  Assuming that the reviews posted on the defendants' website here were real, it's not at all clear – based on the complaint – why the FTC thinks that the use of them, in what was a fairly pretty typical manner, was misleading.