FTC Obtains Court Order Halting Scammers' Use Of "MakingHomeAffordable.gov" Link To Deceptively Divert Comsumers Seeking Free Mortgage Assistance

From the Federal Trade Commision:

• At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal district court issued an order to stop an Internet-based operation that pretends to operate “MakingHomeAffordable.gov,” the official Web site of the federal Making Home Affordable program for free mortgage loan assistance. The FTC alleged that the defendants deceptively diverted consumers who searched online for the free government assistance program to commercial Web sites that offer loan modification services for a fee.

For the entire press release, see FTC Obtains Court Order Halting Deceptive Mortgage Relief Internet Ads; Marketers Falsely Claimed to Operate MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

For the court order, see FTC v. One or More Unknown Parties Misrepresenting Their Affiliation With the Making Home Affordable Program.

(1) According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants purchased “sponsored links” for their advertising on the results pages of Internet search engines, including yahoo.com, msn.com, altavista.com and alltheweb.com. When consumers searched for “making home affordable” or similar search terms, the defendants’ ads prominently and conspicuously displayed the Web site address “makinghomeaffordable.gov.” Consumers who clicked on this advertised hyperlink were not directed to the official Web site for the Making Home Affordable program, but were diverted to Web sites that solicit applicants for paid loan modification services. These commercial Web sites, which are not part of or affiliated with the U.S. government, require consumers to enter personally identifying and confidential financial information. The operators of these Web sites either purport to offer loan modification services themselves or sell consumers’ personally identifying information to persons who sell such services.