The FTC’s Enforcement Against Amazon Fake Reviews

Braden Perry, a former federal enforcement attorney who is now a regulatory and government investigations attorney with Kennyhertz Perry, discussed the Federal Trade Commission’s recent settlement of its suit related to companies using fake paid reviews to boost sales with E-Commerce Times.

In this case, the defendants advertised and sold purported weight loss products and used “amazonverifiedreviews.com” to create and post false advertisements.

Perry, who regularly advises companies in FTC matters, described the FTC’s legal footing:

“The basic consumer protection statute enforced by the Commission is Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which provides that “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce … are … declared unlawful.”

Perry noted that “violations include not complying with Section 5(a), which states that “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” includes acts or practices involving foreign commerce that cause or are likely to cause reasonably foreseeable injury within the United States or involve material conduct occurring within the United States, and the Cure Encapsulations case sends a signal both to Amazon and to the many companies that encourage reviews that the FTC will bring actions to ensure that the reviews consumers see are accurate.”

In discussing the impact to the industry, Perry stated that “although Amazon has filed many suits about false reviews, this settlement will likely put Amazon on notice that it must diligently monitor and enforce against those who they believe are providing false reviews.”

To view the entire article, please visit E-Commerce Times.

About Braden Perry

Braden Perry is a litigation, regulatory and government investigations attorney with Kennyhertz Perry, LLC. Mr. Perry has the unique tripartite experience of a white-collar criminal defense and government compliance, investigations, and litigation attorney at a national law firm; a senior enforcement attorney at a federal regulatory agency; and the Chief Compliance Officer/Chief Regulatory Attorney of a global financial institution. Mr. Perry has extensive experience advising clients in government inquiries and investigations, particularly in enforcement matters involving emerging or novel issues. He couples his technical knowledge and experience defending clients in front of federal agencies with a broad-based understanding of compliance from an institutional and regulatory perspective.

About Kennyhertz Perry’s Government Enforcement Practice Group

Kennyhertz Perry represents individual and corporate clients faced with the increased use of criminal enforcement to address business practices, particularly as they relate to financial issues. Mr. Perry brings his enforcement experience as well as his substantial prior experience in white collar criminal defense practice, and as a firm, we represent corporate clients and individual officers and directors at every stage of government investigations and enforcement actions – including white collar criminal matters – initiated by state and federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, SEC, CFTC, and FINRA.

Kennyhertz Perry’s enforcement practice regularly defends clients against allegations involving a wide array of business contexts in federal and state grand jury investigations, trials, and appeals. In particular, we have represented clients in enforcement matters and related litigation involving a wide range of subject areas including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), consumer financial services, money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act, securities, commodities, options, and derivatives fraud, state and federal RICO laws, False Claims Act, and insurance fraud.

About Kennyhertz Perry, LLC

Kennyhertz Perry, LLC is a business and litigation law firm representing clients in highly regulated industries. The firm was founded by two veteran Kansas City attorneys, John Kennyhertz and Braden Perry. To learn more about the firm, visit kennyhertzperry.com.

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