The US Federal Trade Commission has sued GovAssist LLC, Entry LLC and their owner, Scott Zuckerman, alleging that the businesses drew consumers to passport-service websites by creating the false impression that they were the federal government or an authorised government provider.
The complaint, announced on October 22 and filed in federal court in Puerto Rico, says paid search advertisements placed the defendants’ sites where people seeking official passport services expected to find government pages. The FTC alleges that the sites then collected money and personal information while obscuring their private status.
According to the agency, consumers were promised services the defendants could not provide, including direct passport issuance and expedited delivery faster than the State Department’s own timelines. Some customers allegedly received only a completed application that was otherwise available without charge, while advertised prices omitted shipping charges and the separate amount later payable to the government.
The FTC also alleges that positive ratings displayed through review platforms relied on substantial numbers of fake reviews. It claims violations of the FTC Act, the Government and Business Impersonation Rule and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
These are allegations, not findings. The commission voted 2–0 to authorise the case, and the defendants will be able to contest liability and relief in court. The agency noted that Zuckerman was already subject to an administrative order arising from an unrelated privacy case, a circumstance that may become relevant to the requested remedy but does not establish the new claims.
