This week, an administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission began mailing checks to more than 172,000 consumers nationwide who were defrauded by a scam in which consumers were falsely promised free gifts such as shopping sprees, movie passes, and gas vouchers and wrongfully paid monthly fees for “program memberships” in discount buying and travel […]
Monthly Archives: April 2011
FTC Offers Online Game with Consumer Tips for Mother’s Day
Tips for Consumers April 29, 2011 Just in time for Mother’s Day, the Federal Trade Commission is offering an online matching game celebrating moms. Win the game and get consumer tips to send your mom. In return for all the great advice she’s given you all these years, the FTC’s tips can help your mom […]
FTC Offers Tips to Help People Avoid Being Scammed By Door-to-Door Sales Agents Pitching Home Security Systems
The Federal Trade Commission is offering information to help homeowners avoid unscrupulous sales agents who go door-to-door during the summer months. These scammers use deceptive, high-pressure tactics to get people to buy expensive, and sometimes substandard, home security systems they often don’t need. The FTC advises consumers to ask for identification before allowing a salesperson […]
FTC Seeks Public Comment on Simon Property Groups Request to Divest Prime Outlets in Jeffersonville, Ohio, to Tanger Properties Limited Partnership
Simon Property Group, Inc. has filed an application with the Federal Trade Commission seeking approval to divest its Prime Outlets outlet center located in Jeffersonville, Ohio, to Tanger Properties Limited Partnership. Simon is required to divest one of its two outlet centers located in Southwest Ohio under the FTC’s January 13, 2011 Decision and Order. […]
Interagency Working Group Seeks Input on Proposed Voluntary Principles for Marketing Food to Children
In an effort to combat childhood obesity – the most serious health crisis facing today’s youth – a working group of four federal agencies today released for public comment a set of proposed voluntary principles that can be used by industry as a guide for marketing food to children. Led by former Sen. Sam Brownback […]
FTC Requires Hikma to Sell Two Drugs as Condition of Baxter Healthcare Acquisition
The Federal Trade Commission will require Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma) to divest two generic injectable pharmaceuticals – phenytoin and promethazine – as part of a settlement allowing it to acquire certain assets from Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Inc. (Baxter). Hikma proposes to acquire Baxter’s entire generic injectable pharmaceutical business for $111.5 million, including Baxter’s Cherry Hill, […]
FTC Staff: Proposed Alabama Law Would Give Veterinarians More Choices in Providing Spaying, Neutering Services
Federal Trade Commission staff, in response to a request from Alabama Representative Patricia Todd, stated that a bill proposed in the Alabama legislature would give veterinarians more choices in serving consumers. Alabama House Bill 156 would allow veterinarians to be employed by a limited services 501(c) (3) nonprofit facility that performs only spaying and neutering […]
FTC Releases Agenda for Telephone Bill Cramming Forum
The Federal Trade Commission has announced the agenda for its day-long public forum in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 2011, to examine telephone bill cramming and explore possible solutions to reduce unauthorized third-party billing on telephone bills. The forum will focus on how the government, businesses, and organizations can work together to reduce cramming through business practices, law enforcement, […]
FTC Returns $1.5 Million to Consumers from Mortgage Lender Charged With Illegally Discriminating Against Hispanic Borrowers
On April 22, 2011, an administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission mailed 3,162 refund checks to borrowers allegedly harmed by Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc. and Howard D. Kootstra. The refund checks stem from a lawsuit the FTC filed against Golden Empire and Kootstra, alleging that they illegally charged Hispanic consumers higher prices for mortgage […]
FTC to Hold Workshop on Ways to Protect Consumers As Debt Collection Technologies Change
For Your Information April 25, 2011 On Thursday, April 28, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission will host a workshop about the impact that technological advances are having on the nation’s consumer debt collection system. The workshop will explore how changing technology affects the ways in which debt collectors communicate with consumers and obtain and process […]