National Consumer Protection Week 2014 Begins Sunday

The Federal Trade Commission, in collaboration with 74 federal, state and local agencies, consumer groups, and national organizations, celebrates National Consumer Protection Week, beginning Sunday, March 2, and running until Saturday, March 8. Now in its 16th year, NCPW encourages American consumers to learn about their rights in the marketplace and to recognize and report […]

In Debt Collection Case, FTC Sends Refund Checks to Consumers

An administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission is mailing 8,352 checks averaging $91.14 each to consumers who were deceived into paying unnecessary “convenience fees” to Jacob Law Group, PLLC, on behalf of debt buyer Security Credit Services, LLC. In 2013, the FTC charged both companies with violating the FTC Act and the Fair Debt […]

Appeals Court Affirms Ruling in Favor of FTC, Upholds $163 Million Judgment Against ‘Scareware’ Marketer

In a victory for the Federal Trade Commission in its efforts to protect consumers from spyware and malware, a federal appeals court has upheld a district court ruling that imposed a judgment of more than $163 million on Kristy Ross for her role in an operation that used computer “scareware” to trick consumers into thinking […]

Another Group of Marketers Behind Phony ‘Gift Card’ Text Spam Settles FTC Complaint

A group of affiliate marketers has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they took part in a scheme that bombarded consumers with tens of millions of spam text messages that lured consumers with phony gift card offers, and then directed recipients to deceptive websites. The Chicago-based defendants in the case, operating through two […]

FTC Approves Final Order Settling Charges that Nielsen Holdings N.V.’s Acquisition of Arbitron, Inc. Was Anticompetitive

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order settling charges that Nielsen Holdings N.V.’s acquisition of Arbitron, Inc. was anticompetitive. According to the FTC’s September 2013 complaint, at the time of the acquisition, Nielsen and Arbitron were both developing national syndicated cross-platform audience measurement services, which allow audiences […]

FTC Announces Top National Consumer Complaints for 2013

Identity theft continues to top the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints, and American consumers reported losing over $1.6 billion to fraud overall in 2013, according to the FTC’s annual report on consumer complaints released today. “Americans of all ages are vulnerable to identity theft, and it remains the most common consumer complaint […]

FTC Requires Bi-Lo to Sell 12 Supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina as a Condition of Acquiring Stores from Delhaize America

Grocery store operator Bi-Lo Holdings, LLC, the parent of BI-LO and Winn Dixie grocery store chains, has agreed to sell 12 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its proposed $265 million acquisition of 154 stores from Delhaize America — 73 Sweetbay supermarkets (and leases to 10 closed […]

FTC Concludes Review of iVeriFly’s Proposed COPPA Verifiable Parental Consent Method

Following a public comment period and review of iVeriFly’s proposed Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA) Rule verifiable parental consent method application, the Federal Trade Commission determined it was unnecessary to approve the company’s specific method. In a letter to iVeriFly, the FTC stated that the company’s proposed method is a variation on existing methods already […]

Interagency Consumer Compliance Examination Procedures for Mortgage Rules Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act)

The FDIC has released revised interagency consumer compliance examination procedures for the mortgage rules issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. The release of these examination procedures is part of the FDIC’s ongoing efforts to inform supervised institutions about important bank regulatory developments in order to promote transparency in the FDIC’s supervisory program. The examination procedures […]

FTC Approves Final Consent Settling Charges that Accretive Health Failed to Adequately Protect Consumers’ Personal Information

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order settling charges that a company providing medical billing and revenue management services to hospitals in multiple states unfairly exposed sensitive consumer information to the risk of theft or misuse because of its inadequate data security measures.     The FTC alleged […]