Federal Trade CommissionHeadquarters:600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20580Contact Us Related posts: Stick with Security: FTC to Provide Additional Insights on Reasonable Data Security Practices Direct Marketer Agrees to Pay $8 Million for Deceiving Consumers Identity Theft Tops FTC’s Consumer Complaint Categories Again in 2014 Consumer Confidence in Internet Marketplace Depends on Privacy Protections, FTC Tells […]
Monthly Archives: January 2017
Mortgage Relief Defendant Banned from Debt Relief Business
Damian Kutzner, one of the operators of a mortgage relief scheme that bilked millions of dollars from financially distressed homeowners, has agreed to a court order banning him from the debt relief business. The stipulated order resolves the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint and the contempt charges against Kutzner. It also bans him from providing certain […]
How to Participate in FTC’s Second PrivacyCon
The Federal Trade Commission’s PrivacyCon event will be held tomorrow, Jan. 12, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (ET). Speakers will include FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Director Jessica Rich of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. The event will feature research presentations and policy discussions that cover a wide variety of privacy topics and […]
FTC Sends Checks to Nearly 350,000 Victims of Herbalife’s Multi-Level Marketing Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission is mailing checks to nearly 350,000 people who lost money running Herbalife businesses. The checks are the result of a July 2016 settlement with the FTC that required Herbalife to pay $200 million and fundamentally restructure its business. This represents one of the largest redress distributions the agency has made in […]
FTC, New York State Charge the Marketers of Prevagen With Making Deceptive Memory, Cognitive Improvement Claims
The Federal Trade Commission and New York State Attorney General have charged the marketers of the dietary supplement Prevagen with making false and unsubstantiated claims that the product improves memory, provides cognitive benefits, and is “clinically shown” to work. The extensive national advertising campaign for Prevagen, including TV spots on national broadcast and cable networks […]
FTC Charges Defendants with Selling Fake Payday Loan Debt Portfolios
The Federal Trade Commission has charged a Kansas man and his companies with selling portfolios of fake payday loan debts that debt collectors used to get people to pay on debts they did not owe. At the FTC’s request, a federal court halted the operation pending litigation. According to the FTC, Joel Jerome Tucker, SQ […]
FTC Approves Final Order Preserving Competition for Certain Physician Services in St. Cloud, MN
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that CentraCare’s acquisition of St. Cloud Medical Group, also known as SCMG, would be anticompetitive. According to the complaint, by eliminating SCMG as a potential alternative in the St. Cloud area, the acquisition, if unremedied, likely would have increased […]
FTC Staff Provides Supplemental Public Comment in Tennessee Opposing Health Systems’ Certificate of Public Advantage Application
The Federal Trade Commission staff submitted a supplemental comment and analysis to the Tennessee Department of Health that opposes issuing a certificate of public advantage, or COPA, to Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System. The supplemental comment replies to Mountain States and Wellmont’s December 19, 2016 response to FTC staff’s previous comment, and […]
FTC Charges D-Link Put Consumers’ Privacy at Risk Due to the Inadequate Security of Its Computer Routers and Cameras
The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Taiwan-based computer networking equipment manufacturer D-Link Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, alleging that inadequate security measures taken by the company left its wireless routers and Internet cameras vulnerable to hackers and put U.S. consumers’ privacy at risk. In a complaint filed in the Northern District of California, […]
FTC Economic Issue Paper Examines the Impact of Disclosing Mandatory Hotel Resort Fees Separately From Room Rates
A new issue paper authored by an FTC staff economist concludes that consumers are likely being harmed by the hotel industry practice of disclosing mandatory resort fees separate from posted room rates, without first disclosing the total price. The paper, issued by the FTC’s Bureau of Economics, examined the costs and benefits of disclosing mandatory […]