Safety & recalls · 17 Aug
FTC: paid search ads can be bill-pay impostors — Doxo pays $2.1M for posing as your biller
The FTC has settled with the bill-payment site Doxo, which will pay $2.1 million for consumer redress after the agency alleged it used paid search ads to pose as the official payment channel for utilities, car loans, Labcorp, AT&T and state toll authorities it had no relationship with. The same deceptive ads are still a live pattern: the top results when you search for where to pay a bill are often paid advertisements, and clicking them can land you on a third-party platform that adds undisclosed delivery fees or signs you up for a recurring subscription.
For an ordinary reader the change is a habit, not a product: when paying a bill online, do not click a search ad or a result that is not the company's own domain. Type the company's web address directly, use its app, or call the number on your statement, and check for extra fees before entering payment details.
The FTC's court order also bars Doxo and its co-founders from using a biller's name, logo or web address in search ads and from charging consumers without explicit consent. The complaint behind the settlement dates to 2024; the proposed order was filed this month. Anyone who spots a lookalike bill-pay site can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.