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We’re told the name Nebraska comes from the Otoe term Ñí Brásg, meaning “serene water.” The Platte River flows across the state until it converges with the Missouri. From there, it meets the Mississippi, creating the unstoppable force that gives it the name “mighty.” Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of heartland geography, but our purpose today is to draw an analogy to the most recent recipient of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection’s Partner Award...

Are we the only ones who remember C.W. McCall’s novelty song, “Convoy”? To paraphrase the lyrics of one of the few #1 hits about truckers, “Mercy sakes alive,” the FTC is “puttin’ the hammer down” on false claims that imported products are American-made. The agency just announced a proposed settlement with Electrowarmth Products, LLC, and owner Daniel W. Grindle , alleging their Made in USA claims for heated truck bunk mattress pads were, well...

Globe-trotting swindlers may try to evade law enforcement agencies intent on bringing them to justice. But they’re not factoring in the tenacity of public servants like Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Kopita of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. Ms. Kopita’s work in prosecuting criminals who ripped off more than 1,300 small businesses, medical providers, and schools by illegally billing them for bogus...

From Super Bowl ads to Bitcoin ATMs, cryptocurrency seems to be everywhere lately. Although it’s yet to become a mainstream payment method, reports to the FTC show it’s an alarmingly common method for scammers to get peoples’ money. Since the start of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in crypto to scams [1] – that’s about one out of every four dollars reported lost, [2] more than any other payment method. The...

Let’s call it The Recliner Interval – the time it takes for an obscure niche product to start running prime time TV commercials. It’s a made-up metric, of course, but a few hours in front of the TV will demonstrate that advertising for cryptocurrency has gone mainstream. Now here’s a metric that isn’t made up. According to the latest FTC Consumer Protection Data Spotlight , since the start of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing...

In a complaint against Twitter announced today, the Federal Trade Commission alleged the company deceptively used Twitter users’ phone numbers and email addresses, which were collected for security purposes, for other purposes from 2014 to 2019. Users provided phone numbers or email addresses to Twitter for a variety of security purposes, such as for two-factor authentication or to unlock an account where Twitter detected suspicious or malicious...

The FTC has long stressed the importance of good incident response and breach disclosure as part of a reasonable information security program, both through cases and business guidance resources. [1] In some instances, the FTC Act creates a de facto breach disclosure requirement because the failure to disclose will, for example, increase the likelihood that affected parties will suffer harm. Both security breach detection and response are vital to...

Scammers often target job seekers and prospective entrepreneurs with bogus employment and money-making offers. We know that because the FTC has investigated and stopped many of them. But scammers are a relentless breed and continue to make deceptive pitches in online ads, on job websites, and on social media platforms. Knowing some of the red flags can help you spot these scams. Job scams come in a variety of guises. Some fraudsters falsely claim...

For people who prefer to buy Made in USA merchandise, products from Lithionics Battery LLC seemed like an attractive option. According to the FTC, Lithionics and General Manager Steven Tartaglia used phrases and American flag images to convey a Made in USA marketing message for their battery, battery module, and battery management system products. But don’t wave Old Glory just yet. As the FTC’s first action under the new Made in USA Labeling Rule...

Consumers’ health information is already a particularly sensitive category. But health information and other personal data from kids as young as eight? That can raise privacy concerns to the stratosphere. A $1.5 million FTC settlement with WW International, Inc. – you know them by the previous name Weight Watchers – and its subsidiary Kurbo, Inc., underscores the principle that collecting and maintaining that kind of information raises a company...