Legal Resources
Use the filters to find legal resources like cases, reports, staff opinions, and events. You can sort by topic, type or industry.
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Case: Randon Morris
On December 1, 2020, a federal court granted the FTC’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Randon Morris and four companies he controls for perpetrating a telemarketing fraud scheme. The FTC alleged that the defendants initiated millions of robocalls nationwide to promote sham work-...
Case: Digital Income System
The FTC alleged that the Florida-based scam falsely told consumers that by selling memberships in the defendants’ programs, consumers were likely to earn large sums of money. For example, the website stated, “Consumers will earn between $500 and $12,500 per sale,” and “Every time one of our...
Case: RagingBull.com
The FTC alleged that the defendants fraudulently marketed investment-related services that they claimed would enable consumers to make consistent profits and beat the market. Instead, the FTC alleges that consumers—many of them retirees, older adults, and immigrants—have lost at least $137 million...
Case: Moda Latina BZ Inc.
The FTC alleged that the company specifically targets Latina consumers in Spanish-language ads on TV with false promises of earnings at home. The defendants allegedly lure consumers into buying a work-at-home business with the false promise that consumers will earn “large profits” re-selling luxury...
Complete Merchant Solutions, LLC (CMS) and its former CEO, Jack Wilson, have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they illegally processed millions of dollars in consumer credit card payments for fraudulent schemes when they knew or should have known that the schemes were defrauding...
The Federal Trade Commission has issued an administrative complaint against a marketer, Traffic Jam Events, LLC, and its owner, David J. Jeansonne II, charging multiple counts of deceptive conduct. The administrative complaint mirrors a prior federal court complaint, which the Commission...
The FTC reached settlements with the promoters of recruitment-based cryptocurrency schemes.
Public Statement: International Institute of Health, also d/b/a Doc of Detox (Black Gold humic acid supplement)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Public Statement: Hypernaturals LLC (Optimmuner Plus dietary supplement)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Closing Letter: Keen Pump Company, Inc.
October 21, 2020
In response to an FTC complaint, in April 2020, a California-based marketer of a supplement consisting mainly of Vitamin C and herbal extracts has agreed to a preliminary order barring him from claiming that it is effective at treating, preventing, or reducing the risk of COVID-19. Pending the...
Public Statement: Little Spoon, Inc. (Little Spoon baby food)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Closing Letter: Zoeller Pump Company, LLC
October 1, 2020
Closing Letter: American Crafts, L.C.
October 1, 2020
Closing Letter: Sunex International, Inc.
October 1, 2020
Case: Ponte Investments, LLC
A Rhode Island company and its owner will be permanently prohibited from misrepresenting they are affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of a settlement resolving Federal Trade Commission charges they misled consumers in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic...
A Florida-based company that has promoted its Isoprex supplement to older adults as a miracle cure for pain and joint inflammation has agreed to a settlement with the FTC that bars the company from continuing to make its unproven claims. In September 2020, the FTC announced it was sending refunds...
Approximately $147 million is being mailed to 33,000 consumers in the second distribution of refunds resulting from the law enforcement actions brought against Western Union by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Affected...
Globex Telecom, Inc. and an affiliated company will pay a total of $1.9 million to settle Federal Trade Commission and State of Ohio charges that they facilitated a scheme that peddled bogus credit card interest rate relief, illegally charging consumers millions of dollars. The settlement marks the...
Public Statement: GeerPres, Inc. (ADVANTAX microfiber mop pads)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Case: Outreach Calling, Inc.
A sprawling fundraising operation that allegedly scammed consumers out of millions of dollars will be permanently banned from charitable fundraising along with its owner and others involved in its operation as a result of a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and Attorneys General of...
Online children’s education company Age of Learning, Inc., which operates ABCmouse, will pay $10 million and change its negative option marketing and billing practices to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it made misrepresentations about cancellations and failed to disclose important...
Public Statement: Matherson Organics, LLC d/b/a Vitamin Bounty (Elderberry Immune Support dietary supplement)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Case: Pointbreak Media, LLC
At the FTC’s request, in May 2019 a U.S. district court in Florida granted summary judgment against two individuals, approved six settlement agreements involving 11 defendants, and entered a default judgment against the remaining seven defendants, officially ending the massive Pointbreak Media...
Public Event: Reviewing the Franchise Rule: An FTC Workshop
August 13, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission will host an online public workshop on Nov. 10, 2020 to explore a number of issues related to the FTC’s Franchise Rule, and the comments received in response to the FTC’s request for comment about the Rule last year. Specifically, the workshop topics will include...
A leading provider of merchant cash advances used deception to lure small business customers, then regularly withdrew money from their accounts without consent even after the customers had repaid the money they owed, according to a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit. The FTC’s complaint against...
Case: MyLife.com, Inc.
The Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission sued MyLife.com, Inc. and its CEO Jeffrey Tinsley over allegations they deceived consumers with “teaser background reports” that often falsely claimed to include information about arrest, criminal, and sex offender records, and...
Closing Letter: The Mane Choice Hair Solution, LLC
July 23, 2020
Home products and kitchen wares company Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has agreed to stop making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims that all of its Goldtouch Bakeware products, its Rejuvenation-branded products, and Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids-branded upholstered furniture products are...
Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., settled Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company misled consumers about its participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework.
In December 2018, the operators of a student loan debt relief scheme agreed to pay approximately $1.3 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that they pretended to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education or with consumers’ loan servicers, and tricked consumers into...
The FTC sued RagingWire Data Centers, Inc. over allegations that the company misled consumers about its participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework and failed to adhere to the program’s requirements before allowing its certification to lapse. A proposed consent agreement that would settle...
Public Statement: Charter Communications, Inc. (Spectrum Mobile)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
Closing Letter: Relion Group, Inc.
July 8, 2020
Public Statement: Ceres Turf, Inc. (Miniquad turf aeration tines)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
In May 2020, the Commission accepted for public comment a proposed consent agreement to resolve allegations that Miniclip S.A. violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by misrepresenting its status in a Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) safe harbor program.
Closing Letter: Electric Bike Company, LLC
July 2, 2020
Closing Letter: Bihler of America, Inc.
June 24, 2020
The operators of a worldwide negative option scam have agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceptively advertised “risk-free” trial offers for only the cost of shipping and handling, but then charged consumers full price for the trial product and enrolled them in expensive, ongoing continuity...
Case: Traffic Jam Events, LLC
The Federal Trade Commission took action to halt a scheme that allegedly deceived consumers with mailers supposedly directing them how to obtain federal COVID-19 stimulus benefits, which instead lured them to a used car sale. The mailers sent by Traffic Jam Events, LLC and its owner, David J...
Public Statement: Capillus, LLC (Capillus 82 laser hair cap)
Type of Public Statement:
Staff Letter
BY: Jon Miller
Closing Letter: Merrill Manufacturing Co.
June 16, 2020
Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc. agreed to pay a civil penalty of $220,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the retailer violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by refusing to provide complete records of transactions to consumers whose personal information was used by identity...
In their complaint against Madera Merchant Services and B&P Enterprises, the Federal Trade Commission and the Ohio Attorney General allege that the companies generated and processed remotely created payment orders (RCPOs) or checks that allowed many unscrupulous merchants, including deceptive...
In January 2020, the sellers of a pill called ReJuvenation settled FTC charges that they deceptively claimed that their product is a virtual cure-all for age-related ailments—including cell damage, heart attack damage, brain damage, blindness, and deafness. The orders settling the FTC’s complaint...
The FTC entered into a settlement with the operators of LendEDU.com to resolve allegations that LendEDU falsely claimed that the website provided “objective,” “accurate,” and “unbiased” information about consumer financial products, such as student loans, personal loans, and credit cards, when in...
Case: Bronx Honda
New York City car dealer Bronx Honda and its general manager, Carlo Fittanto, will pay $1.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges they discriminated against African-American and Hispanic car buyers and engaged in numerous other illegal business practices. According to the FTC’s...
Case: NatureCity, LLC
In October 2019, the Florida-based marketers and sellers of two aloe vera-based supplements agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived consumers with false and unsupported claims that two products, TrueAloe and AloeCran, were effective treatments for a range of conditions affecting seniors,...
Closing Letter: IRIS USA, Inc.
May 21, 2020
Case: Zurixx, LLC
A federal court has entered a stipulated preliminary injunction against Utah-based Zurixx, LLC and affiliated companies, which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) allege have used deceptive promises of big profits to lure consumers into real estate...