Tag: Bureau of Consumer Protection

Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network Inc. (Celsius), and his business partners, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein, will pay a total of $16.5 million to resolve the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceived users by falsely promising that deposits made to their cryptocurrency platform would be safe and always available.

Mashinsky and Leon have also agreed to a ban on marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. Similarly, Goldstein has agreed to a ban on marketing or selling retail products or services that can be used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade cryptocurrency. 

Nevada-based Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight, and its two principals, Eden Stelmach and Justin Rapoport, have agreed to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceptively advertised the effectiveness of a range of supplements touted as supporting height growth in children and teenagers, and relied on reviews that were written by their own employees, or by consumers who were offered a free product or discount in return for writing a 5-star review. 

RentGrow, a provider of consumer reports for tenant screening, will be required to pay $2.25 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including by failing to use reasonable procedures to ensure the accuracy of its reports, and the FTC Act.

The Federal Trade Commission, along with the New York Attorney General, are taking action against gig economy company Handy Technologies for making a broad array of deceptive claims about how much money workers on its platform could earn.

The complaint charges that Handy, which currently does business as Angi Services, has peppered its advertisements with earnings claims that don’t reflect the reality for the overwhelming majority of workers on the platform. The complaint also charges that Handy has failed to clearly disclose fees and fines that have led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers.

Under the terms of a proposed settlement order, Handy would be required to turn over $2.95 million to be used to provide refunds to harmed workers, and make substantial changes to ensure that workers give clear consent to any fees charged by the company and that the company gives workers clear direction about how to avoid fines.

Publishing.com LLC and its two principals will pay $1.5 million and be required to substantiate earnings claims in the future to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company and its operators misled consumers about how much money they were likely to earn using their products.

The companies that operate the Hopper travel apps have agreed to pay $35 million and will be prohibited from deceiving consumers about fees to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s allegations that they unfairly charged consumers hidden fees and misrepresented the total prices consumers would pay and the benefits of the companies’ VIP Support and Price Freeze services.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that despite its “no hidden fees” promises, Canadian company Hopper Inc. and its Massachusetts-based subsidiary Hopper (USA) Inc., unfairly charged users without their consent for “Tip” and VIP Support fees that the company claimed were optional yet were hidden and pre-selected for consumers.

Amazon will pay $2.25 million in civil penalties to settle FTC allegations that the online retail giant knowingly violated the 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by refusing to provide transaction records to consumers whose personal information was used by identity thieves to commit fraud.