Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Federal Trade Commission reached settlements with a group of St. Louis-based defendants who used deceptive Internet pop-up ads to trick consumers into buying unnecessary technical support services.

In November 2018, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against recidivist Tuan Duong, among others, alleging he falsely promised to reduce students’ monthly loan payments or to eliminate or reduce their educational debts, but widely failed to deliver those services. The defendants also allegedly promoted a 96 percent success rate in reducing consumers’ student loan payments. In fact, the FTC alleged, the consumers who purchased these services often did not receive any debt relief and lost hundreds of dollars. The FTC alleged that the defendants charged consumers illegal upfront fees of $300 or more for these purported debt relief services. A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets.

In May 2019, Duong, the ringleader of the scheme, agreed to settle the Commission’s charges that he bilked $11 million from consumers who were trying to reduce their student loan monthly payments or get loan forgiveness. Under the modified court order, Duong admits he violated the 2016 order and is now banned from the telemarketing industry. The proposed modified final order against Duong contains both injunctive and monetary relief. The order contains an $11,000,215.25 judgment as compensatory relief to the FTC and permanently bans Duong from the telemarketing industry.

In July 2019, both Avitia-Pena, president of Impetus Enterprise, Inc., and Jimmy Calderon, manager of Capital Sun Investments, LLC, settled the FTC’s charges alleging they conducted student loan debt relief operations associated with Duong. The $11 million settlement to be paid by Avitia-Pena represents gross revenues of Impetus Enterprise Inc.’s student loan debt relief operation. The order against Calderon and Capital Sun Investments contains a suspended judgment for $1.3 million, the gross revenues of Capital Sun Investments, LLC’s operation.

Equifax, Inc. agreed to pay at least $575 million, and potentially up to $700 million, as part of a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and 50 U.S. states and territories to settle allegations that the credit reporting company's failed to take reasonable steps to secure its network. 

The Federal Trade Commission sued Lights of America Inc. and related defendants for violating federal law by misrepresenting the light output and life expectancy of their LED bulbs, and falsely comparing the brightness of their LED bulbs with that of other light bulbs. A federal court ordered the defendants to pay $21 million to the FTC to provide refunds and banned the defendants from misrepresenting material facts about lighting products. Millions of people bought these LED bulbs at Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, hardware stores, grocery stores, and on Amazon.com. The FTC has already returned more than $12 million to people who bought these light bulbs. The claims process is still open.

In July 2019, the FTC sent refunds totaling more than $708,000 to consumers and businesses that had been tricked into paying for unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies. The Commission’s February 2016 complaint alleged the Lighting X-Change defendants’ telemarketers failed to disclose to consumers that they were making a sales call, pretended they had a previous business relationship with the recipients, and falsely claimed that they wanted to send a free sample or catalog. Instead, they sent unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies without disclosing the price up-front, and billed the recipients much more than market price for the products. A July 2017 order settling the charges banned the defendants from the illegal shipping and billing practices, and imposed a financial penalty that was used to provide the consumer refunds.

In October 2014, the FTC charged Gerber Products Co. with deceptively advertising that feeding its Good Start Gentle formula to infants with a family history of allergies prevents or reduces the risk that they will develop allergies. The FTC also alleged that Gerber falsely advertised Good Start Gentle’s health claims as FDA-approved. The stipulated court order announced today, which the court has entered as final, settles the FTC’s charges and prohibits Gerber from similar conduct in the future.

Payment processor Allied Wallet, its CEO and owner Ahmad ("Andy") Khawaja, and two other officers, Mohammad ("Moe") Diab and Amy Rountree, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they assisted numerous scams by knowingly processing fraudulent transactions to consumers' accounts.

D-Link Systems, Inc., agreed to implement a comprehensive software security program in order to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations over misrepresentations that the company took reasonable steps to secure its wireless routers and Internet-connected cameras. 

The FTC is mailing 305 checks totaling $314,945 to consumers who paid up-front for worthless credit card interest rate reduction programs pitched by Payless Solutions using illegal robocalls.

The operators of two purported sham charities have agreed to settle charges by the FTC and the AGs of Missouri and Florida that they deceived donors with false claims that their organizations helped disabled police officers and military veterans. The operators of both schemes are permanently banned from charitable solicitations or otherwise working for charities.

Repair All PC settled allegations that it operated a computer tech support scam that tricked consumers into believing their computers were infected with viruses and malware, and then charged them hundreds of dollars for unnecessary repairs. 

A Georgia-based distributor of water filtration systems has agreed to pay a $110,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated a 2017 Federal Trade Commission administrative order by making false claims that wholly imported Chinese water filtration systems were made in the United States.

Following public comment periods, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final consent orders in two separate cases in which the agency alleged that companies falsely claimed their products were made in the United States. The companies were Sandpiper of California and Underground Sports Inc.

Following public comment periods, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final consent orders in two separate cases in which the agency alleged that companies falsely claimed their products were made in the United States. The companies were Sandpiper of California and Underground Sports Inc.

The Federal Trade Commission mailed checks totaling nearly $1.1 million to 87,256 consumers who paid for work-at-home opportunities based on the allegedly deceptive advertising practices of Bob Robinson, LLC and other related defendants. The defendants operated under various brand names, including Work At Home EDU, Work At Home Program, Work At Home Ecademy, Work At Home University, Work At Home Revenue, and Work at Home Institute.