The Federal Trade Commission is currently accepting public comments on two applications by Service Corporation International (SCI) to sell certain funeral home and cemetery assets, as required under the FTC’s May 2014 order settling charges that SCI’s acquisition of Stewart Enterprises, Inc. would likely be anticompetitive. In total, the order requires the combined SCI/Stewart to […]
Monthly Archives: August 2014
FTC Mails Refund Checks Totaling Approximately $800,000 to Consumers Victimized by Alleged Mortgage Relief Scams
The Federal Trade Commission, through an administrator, is mailing checks totaling approximately $800,000 to 1,305 consumers who fell prey to two related mortgage relief scams. In one scheme, using the name Precision Law Center, the defendants allegedly made false promises to consumers that if they sued their lenders along with other homeowners in so-called “mass […]
FTC Announces Agenda for Upcoming Big Data Workshop
The Federal Trade Commission has announced an agenda for its upcoming workshop, “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?” taking place at 8 a.m. on Sept. 15 in Washington, D.C. “Big data” is used to refer to advancing technologies that are dramatically expanding the commercial collection, analysis, use, and storage of data. The workshop […]
FTC Sues Online ‘Yellow Pages’ Operation for Scamming Small Businesses, Doctors’ Offices, Retirement Homes, and Religious Schools
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has halted, pending litigation, an Oklahoma City-based operation that allegedly bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from small businesses, doctors’ offices, retirement homes, and religious schools throughout the country by charging them for unwanted listings in an online “yellow pages” directory. The FTC seeks […]
Debt Collectors in Memphis and New York State Settle with FTC Concerning Multiple Federal Law Violations
A Memphis-based debt collector has agreed to stop deceiving and harassing consumers and otherwise violating federal debt collection laws, and will pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges, while a debt collection operation headquartered outside New York City will pay $490,000 as a penalty to settle a separate FTC complaint. […]
Defendant Behind ‘Six Figure Program’ Work-at-Home Scheme Settles FTC Charges
The final defendant charged by the Federal Trade Commission in a business opportunity scheme that he falsely claimed would enable consumers to earn a significant income by affiliate marketing with websites of well-known companies such as Prada, Sony, Louis Vuitton, and Verizon has agreed to settle. Under the settlement, Benjamin Moskel, a former officer in […]
FTC Approves iKeepSafe COPPA “Safe Harbor” Oversight Program
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved the Safe Harbor Program of iKeepSafe, also known as the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, as a safe harbor oversight program under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the agency’s COPPA Rule. The Commission’s COPPA Rule requires operators of online sites and services […]
Operator of Mobile Cramming Scheme Will Pay More Than $1.2 Million in FTC Settlement
The operator of a massive mobile cramming scheme has agreed to surrender more than $1.2 million in assets to settle Federal Trade Commission charges, including the contents of numerous bank accounts, two luxury cars, shares in a number of startup companies and multiple luxury watches. “Ensuring that consumers are protected in the growing mobile environment […]
FTC Sends More Than $16 Million in Refunds to Consumers Harmed by Tax Relief Scam
The Federal Trade Commission is mailing refund checks totaling more than $16 million to 18,571 consumers who paid money to American Tax Relief, which bilked financially distressed consumers by falsely claiming it could reduce their tax debts. Under a settlement, the defendants turned over millions of dollars in assets the court had frozen, including bank […]
FTC Puts Conditions on Akorn, Inc.’s Proposed Acquisition of VersaPharm Inc
Pharmaceutical company Akorn, Inc. has agreed to sell its rights to develop, manufacture, and market the generic injectable tuberculosis drug, rifampin, in order to settle FTC charges that Akorn’s proposed acquisition of VersaPharm Inc. and its parent company, VPI Holdings Corp., would likely be anticompetitive. The FTC’s proposed settlement with Akorn requires the company to […]