A group of affiliate marketers has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they blasted consumers with more than 30 million deceptive spam text messages and directed recipients of the spam text messages to deceptive websites. Cresta Pillsbury, Jan-Paul Diaz, Joshua Brewer and Daniel Stanitski, and their company Ecommerce Merchants, LLC, which did business […]
Monthly Archives: November 2013
FTC Settlement and Default Judgment Impose Permanent Ban on Marketers of Scam ‘Recovery’ Kits
An operation that allegedly bilked consumers by falsely claiming it could help them recover money they lost in previous scams will be banned from selling recovery services under a default judgment against Business Recovery Services LLC and a consent judgment against its owner, Brian Hessler. The judgments permanently ban the defendants from selling any services […]
Tech Support Scheme Participant Settles FTC Charges
One of the defendants in an alleged tech support scheme has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint against him and give up the money he made from the scheme. Navin Pasari is a defendant in one of six complaints filed by the FTC in September 2012 as part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts […]
FTC Approves Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s Application to Divest Ameristar Casinos, Inc.’s Assets in Lake Charles, Louisiana to GNLC Holdings, Inc.
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved an application by Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. to divest all of the assets associated with Ameristar Casinos, Inc.’s casino and hotel project under construction in Lake Charles, Louisiana to GNLC Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Landry’s Inc., which owns the Golden Nugget casinos and […]
FTC Testifies Before Congress on Fraud Affecting Military Community
The Federal Trade Commission testified before a U.S. Senate Committee regarding the agency’s law enforcement and educational efforts to combat deceptive and unfair practices that impact servicemembers and their families. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Charles Harwood, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said that although all consumers […]
FTC Stops Online ‘Yellow Pages’ Scam; Canada-Based Operation Targeted Small Businesses and Churches in United States
At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal judge has temporarily halted, and frozen the assets of, a Montreal operation that bilked more than $14 million from small businesses and churches in the United States for unwanted listings in online business directories. The FTC seeks to permanently stop the illegal practices and make the defendants […]
FTC Names Latanya Sweeney as Chief Technologist; Andrea Matwyshyn as Policy Advisor
Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced the appointments of Latanya Sweeney as the agency’s Chief Technologist and Andrea Matwyshyn as a Senior Policy Advisor on privacy and data security issues. Dr. Sweeney is a professor of government and technology at Harvard University and the founder and director of Harvard’s data privacy lab. She has […]
FTC Settlements Crack Down on Payment Processing Operation that Enabled ‘Google Money Tree’ Scammers to Charge Consumers $15 Million in Hidden Fees
The Federal Trade Commission is continuing its crackdown on payment processing operations that enable scam artists to charge consumer accounts despite signs of ongoing fraud and unauthorized transactions. Today, the Commission announced a proposed settlement resolving allegations that a payment processor, Process America Inc., and its owners, Kim Ricketts, Keith Phillips and Craig Rickard, used […]
How to Submit Your Questions Online for the FTC’s Internet of Things Workshop
The Federal Trade Commission is hosting a one-day workshop on the Internet of Things on Nov. 19, 2013 in Washington, D.C., and invites participants watching the webcast to submit questions for moderators online. Staff will live-tweet the workshop and take questions via Twitter, Facebook, and email. FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will provide the opening remarks […]
FTC Chairwoman Ramirez Testifies Before House Judiciary Subcommittee on Agency’s Enforcement of U.S. Antitrust Laws to Promote Competition and Protect Consumers
In testimony presented to a U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee the Federal Trade Commission described its ongoing efforts to protect competition and consumers in many important sectors of the economy, including health care, pharmaceuticals, and technology. Testifying on behalf of the FTC before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Laws, Chairwoman Edith […]