The operators of a telemarketing scheme that pitched phony business and grant opportunities have agreed to be banned from those lines of business under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which alleged that they targeted seniors, veterans, and debt-laden consumers with the scam. According to an FTC complaint filed in October 2016, the defendants […]
Monthly Archives: August 2017
FTC Warns Hurricane Victims About Flood Insurance Robocall Scam
Federal Trade CommissionHeadquarters:600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20580Contact Us Related posts: FTC Extends Deadline for Submitting Public Comments on Review of the Telemarketing Sales Rule Through November 13, 2014 FTC Settlement Bans Recidivist Robocaller from Telemarketing How to Take Part in Tomorrow’s Start With Security Conference in San Francisco FTC Places Conditions on CoStar’s $860 […]
FTC Obtains Court Order Against Telemarketing Scheme that Preyed on Spanish-Speaking Consumers
The Federal Trade Commission has ended an operation whose telemarketers in Peru used deceptive and abusive tactics to sell products for learning English to Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States. A federal court issued a default judgment resolving FTC charges brought in February 2017, alleging that the defendants sold various products and threatened to sue, […]
FTC Obtains Court Order: Debt Collector Banned from Debt Collection Business
The final defendant in a debt collection scheme that illegally threatened to arrest or sue consumers and harassed their friends, family members and employers is banned from debt collection activities under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The settlement resolves an FTC complaint filed in May 2015, alleging that Anthony Coppola and his co-defendants […]
FTC Requires Mars to Divest 12 Veterinary Clinics as a Condition of Acquiring Pet Care Company VCA Inc.
Mars, Incorporated has agreed to divest 12 veterinary clinics around the United States that provide specialty and emergency services to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Mars’s $9.1 billion acquisition of pet care company VCA Inc. would violate federal antitrust laws. Under the proposed consent order, Mars is required to divest each of the 12 […]
FTC Final Order with Baxter International and Claris Lifesciences Preserves U.S. Competition for the Injectable Drugs Intravenous Fluconazole and Intravenous Milrinone
Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order designed to remedy the anticompetitive effects resulting from Baxter’s proposed $625 million acquisition of Claris’ injectable drugs business. As announced in July 2017, the complaint alleges Baxter’s proposed acquisition would likely reduce current competition in the U.S. market for the antifungal […]
FTC Charges Debt Collection Operation Took Consumers’ Money for Phantom Debts
The Federal Trade Commission has charged a North Carolina debt collection operation with using intimidation and deception to take money from consumers for debts they did not owe, or that the defendants had no right to collect. A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets at the request of the FTC, which […]
Operator of Online Tax Preparation Service Agrees to Settle FTC Charges That it Violated Financial Privacy and Security Rules
The operator of a Georgia-based online tax preparation service has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated federal rules on financial privacy and security. In its complaint against TaxSlayer, LLC, the FTC alleged that malicious hackers were able to gain full access to nearly 9,000 TaxSlayer accounts between October 2015 and December […]
Court Holds Terrason Spinks and Jet Processing Inc. Liable for $280 Million in Consumer Harm Caused by the IWorks Scheme
Following a trial, a federal court has found Terrason Spinks and his company, Jet Processing Inc., liable for more than $280 million in consumer harm caused by the IWorks scheme. IWorks’ online marketing campaigns falsely claimed that federal grants for personal needs were generally available to consumers, and that people who used its money-making product […]
FTC Announces Refund Process for Victims of Deceptive Tech Support Operation
The Federal Trade Commission is sending email notices to people who are eligible for partial refunds from a tech support scheme. The operators agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations that they deceived hundreds of thousands of people. Eligible consumers bought tech support products and services between April 2012 and November 2014 from Advanced […]