Travel Influencer Sued for Telling “Increasingly Bold Lies” to Build Her Brand

A travel influencer with more than half a million Instagram followers and more than 207,000 TikTok followers is being sued by the consumer protection group Travelers United over allegations that she told “increasingly bold lies” to amass followers and seduce investors into lucrative sponsorship deals.

Cassie De Pecol, a onetime contestant on Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid, is the target of the 119-page legal action, which claims she lied about being the “first woman to travel to every country” (and about being awarded a Guinness World Record for that feat) so she could charge hotels and other businesses thousands of dollars for social media posts praising their products and services. 

The complaint cites data suggesting De Pecol could make between $5,000 and $25,000 for every Instagram post and likely earned fees of $18,000 for speaking engagements.

De Pecol’s boasts about her travel achievements were repeated in outlets such as the New York Times and NBC’s Today. The Travelers United suit also details instances in which brands such as Red Bull, GoDaddy, Quest Nutrition, and Venus hair removal repeated De Pecol’s claims about her travel history in advertisements and marketing materials.

“Why have so many reporters and brands fallen for her claim? Because the claim sells,” the filing states.

The lawyer behind the suit, Lauren Wolfe, says she spent months investigating De Pecol, dismantling her claims and identifying instances in which financial relationships were not disclosed in accordance with Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

“Travelers United decided to take this bold step after seeing increasingly bold lies from this one particular influencer,” the group said in an announcement. “De Pecol raised funds from investors with a pitch deck that said she would be the first woman to travel to every country (not true) and she sent out press releases saying she was going to be the first woman to travel to every country (not true). Her beautiful photos and false press releases gained her attention in press throughout the world including pieces on CNN and NBC News that are still up.”

Among other allegations, the filing claims De Pecol told her audience and potential advertisers that she was scheduled to fly to space as Virgin Galactic’s “first sponsored astronaut,” but that company would not confirm any partnership.

For the complaint, Travelers United also chronicled cases in which De Pecol is said to have posted positive reviews, particularly of Marriott hotels, without appropriately disclosing her financial arrangements with the properties. The group also alleges she used a false identity to post five-star reviews of her own book on Amazon.

Both De Pecol’s website and Twitter account currently claim she is the “first woman on record to travel every country in the world.” The court filing details an instance in the South Pacfiic when De Pecol was said to be observed disembarking an arriving plane, having her passport stamped, and immediately boarding the same plane to depart the country.

The filing also says De Pecol wrote a book, which is available for purchase through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, that contains “travel claims that are…