A branch asks 6 employees to post 5-star reviews describing closings they had no part in. Does asking employees to fabricate customer experiences constitute deceptive endorsement conduct?
Correct Answer
C) Deceptive: reviews present themselves as experiences of customers
C. The requested reviews fabricate customer experiences. The employees did not experience the closings they are being asked to describe. That is different from honestly expressing an opinion about their employer. Disclosing employment addresses a relationship; it does not make an invented customer experience true. Scope and exceptions: This tests fabrication, not a ban on every employee statement or every positive review. The cited FTC guidance distinguishes business conduct from ordinary consumers’ liability under the specific rule. Source: General; section 465.2 fake or false reviews — https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers
Why This Is the Correct Answer
C. The requested reviews fabricate customer experiences. The employees did not experience the closings they are being asked to describe. That is different from honestly expressing an opinion about their employer. Disclosing employment addresses a relationship; it does not make an invented customer experience true. Scope and exceptions: This tests fabrication, not a ban on every employee statement or every positive review. The cited FTC guidance distinguishes business conduct from ordinary consumers’ liability under the specific rule.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Deceptive only where a borrower proves they relied on the reviews
The deceptive nature of this conduct does not depend on identifying a borrower who relied on a particular review.
Option B: Permitted where each review notes the writer works at the branch
A relationship disclosure does not cure fabricated experience.
Option D: Permitted, because the 6 employees do have views about the branch
Having an opinion is not having the claimed customer experience.
Exam Tip
Disclosure cannot turn a fictional experience into an honest review.
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A house bought for $140,000 in March resells for $265,000 in May with no work done and an appraisal from the same broker. If the parties knowingly fabricated the appraisal to support a value above the genuine market value, what fraud scheme does the resale illustrate?
