Defendants in Wealth-Building Scheme Banned from Telemarketing, Selling Business Opportunities, and Producing or Distributing Infomercials

Russell and Catherine Dalbey – who allegedly defrauded consumers with promises of making big bucks by brokering seller-financed promissory notes – have settled with the Federal Trade Commission and the Colorado Attorney General. Using infomercials, print advertising, telemarketing calls, and testimonials, the Dalbeys and the three companies they controlled convinced consumers to part with hundreds and sometimes […]

FTC Charges Marketers with Deceiving Small Businesses into Buying Credit/Debit Card Processing Services and Equipment

The Federal Trade Commission has charged an operation that sells credit and debit card payment processing services to small businesses with violating federal law.  The defendants allegedly made false and unsubstantiated claims and failed to disclose material facts to storefront businesses and sole proprietorships before they applied for services and equipment to process credit and […]

Judge Agrees With FTC: Scammers Debited Payday Loan Applicants’ Bank Accounts Without Their Consent; Consumers Entitled to More Than $9.5 Million in Refunds

A federal judge has found in favor of the Federal Trade Commission in its case against an online operation that illegally debited consumers’ bank accounts when they visited the defendants’ websites seeking payday loans.  The FTC will seek a court order requiring the defendants to return more than $9.5 million to consumers. In 2011, the […]

FTC Testifies Before Congress on Standard Essential Patents and How Patent “Hold-Up” Affects Competition

The Federal Trade Commission testified before a Senate subcommittee today on the topic of “patent hold-up” and explained how competition is affected when the owners of critical, standard-essential technology patents engage in this practice.  It also described the steps it has taken to ensure that U.S. consumers, product innovation, and the standard setting process are not harmed […]

FTC Acts Against Spam Text and Robocalling Operations

The Federal Trade Commission has moved to shut down an international network of scammers that sent millions of unwanted text messages to consumers, using the lure of “free” gift cards and electronics to entice consumers into an elaborate scheme designed to take their money and target them for illegal robocalls. In its complaint, the FTC alleges […]

Three Companies Barred from Advertising Mattresses as Free From Volatile Organic Compounds Without Scientific Evidence to Back Up Claims

Under settlements with the Federal Trade Commission, three mattress manufacturers have agreed to stop making unsupported claims that the mattresses they sell are free of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In addition to challenging the companies’ VOC-free claims, the FTC charged that two of the companies made unsupported claims that their mattresses were chemical-free and lacked […]

FTC Conducts Undercover Inspections of Funeral Homes in Eight States to Press Funeral Homes to Comply with Consumer Protection Law

Investigators working undercover in eight states detected significant violations of Federal Trade Commission consumer protection requirements in 23 of 127 funeral homes they visited during 2012. The FTC conducts undercover inspections every year to make sure that funeral homes are complying with the agency’s Funeral Rule.  The Rule, issued in 1984, gives consumers important rights when […]

FTC Finalizes Settlement in Google Motorola Mobility Case

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission approved a modified Final Order settling charges that some of Google Inc.’s business practices could stifle competition among manufacturers of electronic devices. The Final Order requires Google to abide by its commitments to license its standard-essential patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory or FRAND terms. These standard-essential patents are […]

FTC: Recent Supreme Court Decision Puts Agency in Stronger Position to Protect Consumers From Anticompetitive Pay-for-Delay Drug Settlements

The Federal Trade Commission told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today that it will continue to challenge anticompetitive pay-for-delay court settlements in the pharmaceutical industry, and that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in FTC v. Actavis “is an important victory for consumers and a vindication of basic antitrust and free market principles.” Testifying on behalf […]

FTC Settlement Bans Marketer from Selling Work-At-Home Opportunities

Christopher Andrew Sterling, a work-at-home opportunity marketer, has been banned from selling work-at-home and business opportunities under a federal court settlement. The FTC sued Sterling in November 2012 as part of “Operation Lost Opportunity,” a federal-state crackdown on scams that falsely promised jobs and opportunities to “be your own boss” to people who are unemployed or […]