FTC Charges Consumer For Misleading Testimonial Claims

by psresearch

Posted: 13 years ago 11 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Wow, just when I thought I'd seen it all. Just saw this in Reuters regarding the recent FTC filing against Russ Dalbey's enterprise:

"In an unusual twist, the FTC for the first time charged a consumer -- who was featured in a testimonial -- with making misleading claims. The FTC and Colorado Attorney General charged Marsha Kellogg with making the clam she took in nearly $80,000 from one transaction and made a total of more than $134,000. The FTC said that was exaggerated by about $50,000."

FTC tries to halt program selling instant wealth | Reuters Wealth

It seems so bizarre and pointless I don't even know what to think.

Violation of the No Safe Harbor rule is cited elsewhere in the story.

#charges #claims #consumer #ftc #misleading #testimonial

Lloyd Buchinski 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Paul Schlegel

It seems so bizarre and pointless I don't even know what to think.

Violation of the No Safe Harbor rule is cited elsewhere in the story.

I thought it was an interesting story and a nice direction to go in. What was bizarre and pointless about it?
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DonDavis 13 years ago

I also fail to see what is bizarre about it. She apparently lied. Pointless? Really?
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Peter Clark 13 years ago

Good. This woman is a liar, and complicit in deception and theft. She should be charged.
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- thegabrieljibril Banned 13 years ago
  
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  Steve Faber 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by thegabrieljibril
  
  i believe Russell is a guy.
  
  Yes, But Marsha Kellogg is probably not.
  
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Anup Mahajan 13 years ago

FTC is getting strict day by day. First it was product creators & bloggers, now they are targeting people giving testimonials. What next?

Anup
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BIG Mike Banned 13 years ago

It's not bizarre - it's called accountability. If you're going to lie or mislead people, then you should be held just as accountable as the seller.

If you stop and think about it, the more the FTC cracks down on marketers who are using unethical or illegal tactics to make sales, the better it is for all online businesses in the future.

There is still a lot of mistrust in buying online (or so I think) by the average consumer. As long as the shady marketers are doing their thing, it makes it just that much more difficult for those of us running legit businesses.
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profitsforall 13 years ago

Dang.

If the FTC keep on the way they are going - sales pages are gonna be pretty darn boring

No more false scarcity, inflated testimonials, outrageous claims, forced continuity and false earning statements.

Heck, if it keeps on going the way it's going we will find sales pages telling us what the product is and what it does.

I mean, at some point customers are going to start trusting those that conduct business in an FTC compliant manner.

How awful will that be
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supersonic 13 years ago

Yes, That is good enough. How can someone say falsely that he's made money using blah blah program?
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Fun to Write 13 years ago

Well, it seems that honesty rules the day again.

Looks like the government is really looking into some making money claims and asking for proof. I don't see a problem with requiring folks to be truthful in their product claims and testimonials.

I don't agree that this is a "nanny state" I think it's protecting the consumer.
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Bradley J Anderson 13 years ago

Why didn't the woman just tell the truth and say she made $84,000 in total? That's still a lot of money, and would still have sounded great on the testimonial.

Russ has been bilking people for millions of dollars for years now, so I have no pity for him in the least.

But I also agree with Ernie's post #10: There definitely has to be some sort of accountability for 'truth in advertising', but there are a lot of things more serious than fudging a figure in a testimonial that doesn't affect the accounting records of the business.

Does anyone even read testimonials anymore, anyway? I know I haven't for years. They're way too easy to fudge, and way too hard to validate.
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Paul Myers 13 years ago

Okay. That's enough.

I have opinions on politics as strong as anyone else, but they don't belong here, folks. Since it seems this is going to be one of those "nothing will stop them" threads, it's going to be a finished thread.

Note: The overtly political stuff was deleted.

Paul
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