Blog

Record-breaking refund programs are usually cause for celebration. But the FTC’s largest-ever debt collection redress case offers sobering insights into the lengths some companies will go to illegally squeeze the last dime out of people already in financial distress. California-based Asset & Capital Management Group was a third-party debt collector that bought portfolios of past-due credit card debt. Using a labyrinth of intertwined companies...

The ability to appoint a monitor is an important tool in building a successful merger remedy. The boilerplate-style language FTC uses in merger orders when appointing a monitor belies the unique and varied roles that monitors play in assuring that the order maintains or restores competition. Here’s some background and insight into some of the ways the FTC uses monitors. Many FTC merger orders contain complex remedies – something other than a...

Baby boomers are running scared and marketers are in hot pursuit. What strikes such fear? The specter of memory loss and cognitive impairment severe enough to turn you into “a prisoner” in your own home who is “unable to recall who you are, where you live, or to whom you are related.” According to an FTC lawsuit, Brain Research Labs, KeyView Labs, MedHealth Direct, and others deceptively touted the dietary supplement Procera AVH as a solution to...

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But here’s one thing that doesn’t belong in Vegas or anywhere else: ads that draw buyers in with eye-catching terms while burying the “gotchas” in fine print. In separate law enforcement actions, the FTC alleged that two Las Vegas dealers – car dealers, that is – didn’t play it straight with consumers. The complaint against Planet Nissan cites instances where the FTC says the company touted deals in...

The online ads offer consumers a “risk-free trial” of skincare products from companies that claim to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A- rating. How could that possibly be deceptive or unfair? Let us count the ways. An FTC lawsuit filed in a California federal court alleges that an interconnected operation of 15 companies and 7 individuals uses trickery to get consumers to turn over their credit or debit card numbers and then...

Everywhere these days, folks are talking about big data. (Apparently, even machines are talking amongst themselves using big data in an ecosystem called the Internet of Things.) Last week, Chairwoman Ramirez spoke about the privacy implications of the big data revolution, and specifically, about the FTC’s law enforcement efforts to protect consumer privacy from the risks associated with the collection and use of consumer data. Recently, I was...

Thinking about crowdfunding to raise money for your latest project? If so, you’ll want to pay attention to the FTC’s first crowdfunding case. The lesson: If you launch a crowdfunding campaign, keep your promises. The FTC just settled a case against the creator of a crowdfunding project who did not keep his promises. According to the FTC, Erik Chevalier misled consumers about his project to produce a board game called “The Doom that Came to...

It’s a text that would make most people take notice: ALERT ALERT ALERT .. YOUR PAYMENT WAS DECLINED DUE TO AN INSUFFICIENT ACH TRANSACTION…CALL 866.597.3075. But it wasn’t really an alert. There wasn’t a declined payment. And an “insufficient ACH transaction” isn’t even a real thing. It was a deceptive text message sent by debt collectors to illegally lure purported debtors into contacting them. That’s just one example from three separate cases...

Caribbean cruises, jet ski outings, trips to Disneyworld, tickets to sporting events and concerts, and even dating service subscriptions. You’d expect to see that on reruns of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” What you wouldn’t expect is that they were paid for by donations people made to cancer charities. That’s what the FTC and 58 law enforcement partners from every state and the District of Columbia allege in a lawsuit filed against four...

Consumers frequently contact the Bureau of Competition to alert us that the cost of a prescription drug suddenly spiked up, and ask if the FTC can take antitrust action to bring the price back down. The answer in a nutshell is that it depends on the reason for the price change. We’ve examined this issue a number of times and often found that price changes (up or down) are due to normal market forces and thus do not present an antitrust issue. One...