Oct. 21, 2021—The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on fake online reviews, Small Business Trends reported.
The organization is reportedly sending out Notice of Penalty Offenses which enables the FTC to seek penalties against a company that it knows has been unlawful.
The notice warns a business of unlawful practices relating to the use of endorsements and testimonials. And informs them that they could incur significant civil penalties – up to $43,792 per violation – if they use dishonest endorsement.
The official letter lists the practices that the FCA determined to be deceptive or unfair in prior administrative cases. These practices include the false claiming of an endorsement by a third party, misrepresenting whether an endorser is an actual, current or recent user, using an endorsement to make deceptive performance claims, failing to disclose an unexpected material connection with an endorser, and misrepresenting that the experience of endorsers represents consumers’ typical or ordinary experience.
