Consumer Alerts

It’s an annual celebration of the innovative, the audacious, and the avant garde. The Met Gala? Not quite. It’s the FTC’s sixth PrivacyCon, scheduled to convene virtually on July 27, 2021. PrivacyCon

To quote studio head Samuel Goldwyn’s famous malaprop, an oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. The same can be said of a written security policy if a company doesn’t carry out its

One digit can make a lot of difference. Would the Proclaimers have walked 501 miles? How effective was Love Potion #10? Did the Beatles ask would you still need me, would you still feed me when I’m 65

There’s a standard movie trope of a group stranded in the desert. Parched and burned, their spirits soar when they see an oasis on the horizon. With their last ounce of energy, they crawl toward the

Imagine turning on your computer one morning to discover you and your employees are locked out of your system. A threatening message appears on the screen demanding a ransom if you ever want to see

If you haven’t been following The 12 Days of Consumer Protection on the FTC’s Consumer Blog, you’re in for a treat. The puns are terrific, the visuals are sharable on social media, and the holiday

When the job market is tough, scammers target people who are looking for work or trying to bring in extra income. Economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have created ideal conditions

Cult classic The Big Lebowski proves that mistaken identity can be entertaining on film. But for people looking to rent a house or apartment, it wasn’t so entertaining when tenant background reports

When patients leave the office after an appointment with their eyecare professional, they should have certain things in hand: their coat, their phone – and a copy of their eyeglass prescription. The

Earlier this fall, the Commission announced two separate rulemaking initiatives aimed at updating the rules and interpretations that implement the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. After publication of the

What are the biggest risks of parking? A dinged door? A bruised bumper? For consumers victimized by the pernicious practice of debt parking, the impact on their financial health can be devastating

A mobile banking app that promises consumers 24/7 access to their money and a high rate of interest? Sounds like a perfect 10. But according to a lawsuit filed by the FTC, San Francisco-based Beam

For people dealing with student loan debt – your employees, a family member, or maybe you – the CARES Act gives emergency grants to qualifying borrowers. But like other financial assistance programs

The FTC continues to monitor the marketplace to protect consumers from allegedly unsubstantiated COVID-19 claims. What are we seeing? Whether they’re selling tablets, treatments, or trinkets

Interested in what’s going on with the Franchise Rule? Reviewing the Franchise Rule: An FTC Virtual Workshop begins at 1:00 Eastern Time today – Tuesday, November 10, 2020. Minutes before the start of

This time last year, “zoom” was just a word related to speed. But the pandemic has made video conferencing platform Zoom a daily fixture for business people conferring about trade secrets, doctors and

For years, the FTC has warned about imposters – scammers who masquerade as government officials, financial institutions, family members, etc., in an attempt to flimflam consumers and businesses. The

Next Monday and Tuesday, November 9 and 10, we will be hosting a virtual Question and Answer session to discuss the Commission’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Rulemaking initiative. On Monday from 1 to 2 pm, we

Buying a franchise is a major financial commitment for consumers. The Franchise Rule was put in place to ensure consumers have key information to weigh the risks and benefits of their potential

With the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), Congress required pharmaceutical companies to file certain patent settlement agreements with the