The United States Federal Trade Commission has put on notice of potential offense over 700 companies and businesses, including tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. The FTC warned the companies that their use of fake reviews and misleading endorsements may lead to fines of up to 43,000 dollars.

The FTC may impose fines for the following deceptive practices, among others: falsely claiming 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.

CLICK HERE to read the Federal Trade Commission’s press release.

CLICK HERE to read the Federal Trade Commission’s notice to the companies.