Legal Resources
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In June 2018, the final two defendants among a group of California-based marketers were permanently barred from the deceptive marketing and billing tactics used in connection with selling skincare products offered to consumers with supposedly “risk-free” trials. The court order settled the charges...
Closing Letter: Nevco, Inc.
November 14, 2019
Case: InfoTrax Systems, L.C.
InfoTrax, L.C. settled Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company failed to put in place reasonable security safeguards, allowing a hacker to access the personal information of more than a million consumers.
Closing Letter: ATD-American Co., doing business as, Thomaston Mills
November 8, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission sued the multi-level marketer Neora, LLC, formerly known as Nerium International, LLC, and its Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Olson, alleging that the company operates as an illegal pyramid scheme and falsely promises recruits they will achieve financial independence...
Rule Summary: Energy and Water Use Labeling for Consumer Products Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (“Energy Labeling Rule”)
The Energy Labeling Rule calls for the familiar yellow Energy Guide labels stating a product’s estimated annual operating cost and energy consumption, and a range for comparing the highest and lowest energy cost for similar models. Energy Guide labels appear on clothes washers, dishwashers,...
Closing Letter: Outlaw Audio, LLC
October 23, 2019
Retina-X Studios, LLC, reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that the company and its owner failed to secure the data collected by its “stalking” apps and ensure the apps were used for legitimate purposes.
October 22, 2019
On January 28, 2020 , staff of the Federal Trade Commission examined voice cloning technologies that enable users to make near-perfect reproductions of a real person’s voice. Advances in artificial intelligence and text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis have allowed researchers to create a near-perfect...
On October 21, 2019, the FTC announced it had halted the deceptive online marketing tactics of cosmetics firm Sunday Riley Modern Skincare, LLC and its CEO. Under the order settling the FTC’s complaint the defendants were banned from misleading consumers by posting fake reviews of the company’s...
Case: Devumi, LLC
On October 21, 2019, the FTC announced it had halted the deceptive online marketing tactics of two companies and their principals, the first of which allegedly sold fake indicators of social media influence, and the second of which allegedly used fake product reviews posted by its employees on a...
Closing Letter: Coulter Ventures, LLC, d/b/a Rogue Fitness
October 15, 2019
Case: OMICS Group Inc.
In April 2019, the FTC announced that a federal district court judge ordered Srinubabu Gedela and his companies to pay more than $50.1 million to resolve FTC charges that they made deceptive claims about the nature of their conferences and publications, and hid steep publication fees. The court...
Public Event: PrivacyCon 2020
October 11, 2019
The FTC will host its fifth annual PrivacyCon on July 21, 2020. For PrivacyCon 2020, the FTC is seeking research presentations on any topic related to consumer privacy and security. However, we will focus in particular on the privacy of health data collected, stored, and transmitted by mobile...
The FTC’s December 2016 complaint alleged that between 2011 and 2016 the defendants called timeshare property owners falsely claiming that they had a buyer or renter ready to buy or rent their properties for a specified price, or making false promises to sell the timeshares quickly. A May 2018...
LifeLock paid $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission contempt charges that it violated the terms of a 2010 federal court order that requires the company to secure consumers' personal information and prohibits the company from deceptive advertising.
The operator of a job placement company that deceived consumers with false promises of access to high-paying finance jobs and resume repair services for non-existent jobs will be permanently banned from providing employment services under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
Case: Apply Knowledge, LLC
The FTC will be mailing refund checks totaling more than $2 million to people who lost money to a Utah-based business coaching scheme that operated under the names Coaching Department and Apply Knowledge, among others.
Closing Letter: Komar, Inc.
October 1, 2019
Closing Letter: Ironcompany.com Inc.
October 1, 2019
The operators of a student loan debt relief scam have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they bilked millions from consumers by falsely claiming to enroll consumers in loan forgiveness programs, for which they charged up to $1,000 in illegal upfront fees. The FTC alleged in its...
Case: Match Group, Inc.
The Federal Trade Commission has sued online dating service Match Group, Inc. (Match), the owner of Match.com, Tinder, OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, and other dating sites, alleging that the company used fake love interest advertisements to trick hundreds of thousands of consumers into purchasing paid...
In November 2018, a federal district court in Maryland issued an order temporarily shutting down the largest overseas real estate investment scam the FTC has ever targeted. According to the FTC, the scam was established by Andris Pukke, a recidivist scammer currently living in California The...
Case: Truly Organic Inc.
Miami Beach-based retailer Truly Organic Inc. (Truly Organic) and its founder and CEO, Maxx Harley Appelman, will pay $1.76 million to settle a FTC complaint alleging that their nationally marketed bath and beauty products are neither “100% organic” nor “certified organic” by the U.S. Department of...
Case: Vemma Nutrition Company
The FTC will be mailing refund checks totaling more than $2.2 million to people who lost money to an alleged pyramid scheme operated by Vemma Nutrition Company.
The Federal Trade Commission charged the operators of two similar student loan debt relief schemes, Manhattan Beach Ventures and Student Advocates Team, and a financing company that assisted them, Equitable Acceptance Corporation, with bilking millions of dollars from consumers.
Public Event: Accuracy in Consumer Reporting Workshop
September 10, 2019
The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) hosted a public workshop on December 10, 2019 to discuss issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports. Since the FTC released its 2012 study on...
Google LLC and its subsidiary YouTube, LLC agreed to pay a $170 million civil penalty to the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General to settle allegations that the YouTube video sharing service illegally collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent...
In November 2017, the Federal Trade Commission charged a Georgia-based debt collection business with tricking people into paying money for debts they did not owe. A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets at the FTC’s request. In September 2018, the operators settled the...
Case: Standard Industries LLC
In July 2017, the FTC obtained court orders against this Maryland-based office supply operation charged with tricking small businesses, non-profit organizations, and other consumers into paying for overpriced office and cleaning supplies they never ordered. The stipulated orders setting the FTC’s...
Public Event: Consumers and Class Action Notices: An FTC Workshop
August 29, 2019
On October 29, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission held a public workshop in Washington, DC on improving class action settlement notices for consumers. The event addressed current practices and research related to class action notices, redress methods, claims rates, check-cashing rates, and similar...
Rule Summary: Telemarketing Sales Rule
The Telemarketing Sales Rule, which requires telemarketers to make specific disclosures of material information; prohibits misrepresentations; sets limits on the times telemarketers may call consumers; prohibits calls to a consumer who has asked not to be called again; and sets payment restrictions...
In February 2017, the FTC and the Maine AG’s office announced a complaint and three settlements with dietary supplement marketers who allegedly used radio infomercials deceptively formatted as talk shows and print ads featuring fictitious endorsers to advertise supplements purporting to improve...
Case: Nobetes Corp.
In December 2018, officers of a company that marketed and sold Nobetes, a pill they claimed treats diabetes, settled an FTC complaint alleging that the advertising claims for the product are false or unsubstantiated. The order settling the FTC’s complaint prohibits the company and its officers from...
Case: DOTAuthority
In October 2016, a federal judge granted the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction against two people and their companies for allegedly tricking small commercial trucking businesses into paying them for federal and state motor carrier registrations by impersonating government transportation...
The Federal Trade Commission finalized five separate proposed administrative complaints and orders enforcing the Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA), which prohibits businesses from using form contract provisions that bar consumers from writing or posting negative reviews online, or threatening...
In March 2018, the FTC filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction alleging that Alliance Security Inc., a home security installation company, and its founder, directly and through its authorized telemarketers, called millions of consumers whose numbers are on the National Do Not Call (...
Closing Letter: Implus Footcare, LLC
August 5, 2019
Closing Letter: Natural Life Foods Corp. d/b/a Strike First Nutrition
August 5, 2019
The FTC is mailing 53,595 refund checks totaling $748,070 to consumers nationwide who signed up for an online auction kit that was supposed to be free, but wasn’t. The kit actually cost consumers up to $59.95 per month if they failed to cancel a trial membership in a business opportunity program...
Case: Equifax, Inc.
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...
Closing Letter: Linmore LED Labs, Inc.
July 29, 2019
Public Statement: The a2 Milk Company (a2 Milk dairy products)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Closing Letter: UNEX Corporation
July 23, 2019
Closing Letter: Kenall Manufacturing Co.
July 23, 2019
Closing Letter: CURT Group
July 22, 2019
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...
Closing Letter: Golden Brothers, Inc., d/b/a Golden Technologies Inc.
July 18, 2019
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...
Closing Letter: American LED Technology, Inc.
July 18, 2019
