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In December 2010, DSG and a subcontractor publicly admitted to sending forged letters about a proposed derivatives trading rule to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the name of business leaders and Arkansas residents, including correspondence claiming to be from J.H. Heinz and Burger King Co. executives, according to ''O'Dwyer's PR''.<ref>Greg Hazley, [http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2010/november/1201firms-cop-to-phony-letter-scheme.html Firms Cop to Phony Letter Scheme], ''O'Dwyer's PR'', December 1, 2010.</ref> ''Bloomberg'' reported in November that DSG had been "hired to influence how regulators will implement rules for derivatives trading," but the firm would not disclose its client(s).<ref>Silla Brush and Clea Benson, [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-30/consulting-firm-says-arkansas-subcontractor-forged-cftc-comment-letters.html Consulting Firm Says Arkansas Subcontractor Forged CFTC Comment Letters], ''Bloomberg'', November 30, 2010.</ref> "Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. was among the financial companies that lobbied Congress on the issue raised in the letters, ownership of derivatives clearinghouses, during the debate over the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul last year. Nasdaq’s chief spokesman said yesterday that the company would have no comment on whether it had hired Dewey Square," ''Bloomberg'' later reported. CFTC chairman Gary Gensler said that he had referred forged the comment letters, which violate the federal False Statements Act making it a felony to send false statements to regulators, to the Justice Department.<ref>Silla Brush and Clea Benson, [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-01/cftc-refers-forged-comment-letters-on-trading-rule-to-justice-department.html CFTC Refers Forged Comment Letters to Justice Department], ''Bloomberg'', December 1, 2010.</ref>
===2009: Faking Letters to the Editor on Medicare Advantagefor Health Insurance Lobby Association=== According to ''In These Times'', DSG represented [[America's Health Insurance Plans]] (AHIP), a health insurance lobby association, in a fight against a provision of President Obama's then-proposed health care reform that would cut back on Medicare Advantage, a privately managed alternative to traditional [[Medicare]]. But DSG carried out the work by fabricating letters to the editor as senior citizens without those citizen's permission.<ref>Mike Elk and Lee Fang, [http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13580/unions_contract_to_pr_firms_that_work_for_anti-worker_groups Unions Contract Out to PR Firms That Work for Anti-Worker Groups], ''In These Times'', July 27, 2012.</ref>
The editor of the ''Halifax-Plympton Reporter'', in Marshfield, Massachusetts, reported receiving a letter to the editor in early 2009 urging "that people contact their congressman about the Medicare Advantage program," a "sort of privatized health plan paid for via the recipient's [[Medicare]]. Reportedly, there's some interest in doing away with the program." The actual, physical letter was in the name of a local resident, but it didn't mention any of the local Congressional delegation, which the newspaper's editor, Matthew Nadler, found strange. So, he called the local resident who had supposedly written and mailed the letter. "He had no idea what I was talking about," Nadler reported. Then, "I got a phone call Monday from a young man who said he was calling on behalf of the letter's non-writer. I told him what happened, and I think I had some pointed words about what was a pretty sleazy use of an elderly person. I asked the caller who he was and who he worked for. Which, not surprisingly, I suppose, he declined to tell me." However, Nadler could see his phone number, and traced it back to the Dewey Square Group. Nadler noted that DSG's "Web site doesn't list their clients, but it doesn't take a genius, or a newspaper editor, to figure out they've been hired by someone with an interest in keeping Medicare Advantage in business." The firm's site "promises 'grassroots' communication," he added, but "it looks more like [[Astroturf]] from here."<ref>Matthew Nadler, "[http://www.wickedlocal.com/halifax/news/lifestyle/columnists/x917905567/Musings-Grassroots-letter-campaign-smells-of-fertilizer 'Grassroots' letter campaign smells of fertilizer]," ''Halifax-Plympton Reporter'' (Marshfield, Massachusetts), March 27, 2009.</ref>
