FTC Sues GovAssist, Entry and Scott Zuckerman: Alleged Government Impersonation Scheme Targeted Passport Seekers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is taking action against GovAssist LLC, Entry LLC and Scott Zuckerman for their alleged involvement in a government impersonation scheme that deceived consumers seeking passport services by purporting to be the federal government or affiliated with the federal government. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, following a 2-0 Commission vote authorizing staff to file it.
According to the complaint, since at least October 2023 the defendants have hosted a series of websites, including GovAssist.com, Entry.com and IVS.us, offering passports and passport-related services as well as other travel services such as visa applications and renewals, while pretending to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of State. The defendants used paid Google search ads to position their websites where consumers would expect to find official federal government websites: when consumers searched phrases such as “apply for a new passport” or “passport renewal,” the defendants' pages routinely appeared as top sponsored results, leading consumers to believe they were dealing with the federal government or an authorized government-affiliated provider, when the defendants are neither.
The FTC alleges the defendants also made false service promises, including that they could directly issue U.S. passports, when in many instances consumers received only a completed passport application they could have obtained for free from the State Department website. The defendants claimed their services started at $89, when the lowest price actually offered was $119 plus a $29 shipping fee, $148 in total, while downplaying the additional payment consumers would still owe the State Department. They also claimed consumers could pay extra to have passports expedited in as little as 6 to 10 business days or 3 to 4 business days, timelines faster than the fastest expedited service offered by the only source of passports, the U.S. Department of State. The defendants further touted an “excellent rating” built on large numbers of fake positive reviews. The FTC alleges the conduct violates the FTC Act, the Impersonation Rule and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
“Using paid Google search ads and landing pages to impersonate the government and target American travelers is illegal,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The FTC noted that Zuckerman, the owner and sole member of GovAssist and Entry, ran the scheme while under an FTC order in a prior, unrelated case involving Support King LLC and stalkerware, which resulted in a final administrative order addressing data privacy. (GSM, based on a Federal Trade Commission announcement)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）总部大楼（资料图）。照片：Gunnar Klack，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / FTC headquarters in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo: Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
