By Andrew Miller
Over in Chicago, one man created thousands of fake online business listings for local home repair companies. None of them exist.
Premium Home Service and its CEO Yosef Bernath have been running the scam all over the country under various names since 2018. Back in 2024, a local news team in Minnesota found Bernath’s home. There was a Lamborghini in the driveway. He’s estimated to have raked in over $79 million from his scheme.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is about to bring the hammer down on him.
Bernath’s goal was to fool customers into thinking these nonexistent companies were reputable. Then, his company would send unlicensed and unqualified technicians into their homes.
To start, they’d flood the search engine results with local listings for established brick-and-mortar companies. When would-be customers searched for home repair companies nearby, they’d see endless five-star reviews from supposedly satisfied customers.
Only these happy customers didn’t exist. The real customers who left one-star reviews were buried under all the fake ones.
If someone called to make an appointment, they’d be routed to representatives outside the country, like the Philippines. Then, the representative would send out a technician to do the job.
Often, these technicians never even showed up. The ones that did provided subpar and even dangerous work.
This is the first significant enforcement of the FTC’s reviews and testimonials rule. Guilty parties face penalties up to $53,088 per violation and could be required to reimburse customers. In this case, Premium Home Service created thousands of listings.
Aside from the victims who fell for the scam, real, honest local home repair companies were also affected. Their legitimate companies were hidden beneath pages of fake listings, costing them valuable leads.
As a business owner, your company could be competing against listings that don’t exist.
Take this time to check your Google Business profile for accuracy. Check out your competitors listings too. If you see something that looks off, like an address that doesn’t match the location or reviews that look suspiciously too good, you can report it under the FTC’s ReportFraud.ftc.gov site.
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