Almost exactly one year after reaching a $40 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission regarding questionable health benefits attributed to Skechers’ Shape-Ups toning shoes, a U.S. District Court judge has finally signed off on the deal, allowing things to move on to the refund stage. [More]
Court Finally Signs Off On $40 Million In Skechers Shape-Ups Refunds
By May 14, 2013
FTC Handing Out $1.7M In Refunds To Victims Of “Free Government Grant” Scam
By May 9, 2013
Reminder: Just because the President’s face is on a web site that’s offering products ostensibly related to the government, it doesn’t make it true. Way back in 2009 the Federal Trade Commission put the smackdown on a bunch of sites that were selling products that would help consumers get free government grant money. Thing is, the government had nothing to do with it, and didn’t much appreciate being used in such a way. Some 22,764 consumers are now set to get refunds in the case. [More]
FTC Sends Warning Letters To 10 Data Brokers
By May 7, 2013
While it often seems like information brokers can and do sell whatever data they can collect to anyone willing to pay, there are regulations in place regarding the sale of certain types of personal information. Following a test to see how well brokers were adhering to these rules, the Federal Trade Commission has issued warning letters to 10 data brokers who appeared willing to sell consumer information without abiding by standards set forth in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. [More]
Path Texts And Calls Everyone In User’s Address Book About Nonexistent Photos At 6 A.M.
By April 30, 2013
UPDATE: After seeing this story on Consumerist, a rep for Path wrote me — on my personal e-mail address suggesting I check out Stephen’s updated post and give Path a try for myself… In spite of the fact that Stephen still maintains that he never opted into sharing his address book nor did he have any pictures to share. Thanks, but I’d rather not bother my friends and family with texts at all hours of the morning. [More]
Bogus Weight-Loss Products, Fraudulent Prizes Top List Of Biggest Scams
By April 19, 2013
More than 1-in-10 American adults fall victim to some sort of fraud, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. And scams related to fraudulent weight-loss products are by far the most prevalent. [More]
Your ZIP Code And Your Name, That’s All Retailers Need To Track Your Behavior
By April 18, 2013
How many times have you been asked “May I have your ZIP code?” when paying with a credit card? Many people just assume it’s for security purposes, but in reality it’s more likely that you may have just given marketers access to a wealth of knowledge about you and your shopping habits. [More]
FTC Accuses Company Of Cramming Millions Of Dollars Of Bogus Charges On Wireless Bills
By April 17, 2013
In the first case of its kind for the wireless industry, the Federal Trade Commission has accused a company and its owners of raking in millions of dollars by charging wireless customers for text services they never signed up for. [More]
Let’s Review: If You Didn’t Order It, You Don’t Have To Pay For It Or Send It Back
By April 12, 2013
Andrew subscribes to Popular Photography magazine, and was annoyed to receive an instructional DVD in the mail. Not because he’s a pro photographer and already knows his way around a DSLR, but because he didn’t order it. “I was just going to throw it out,” he writes. “thankfully I didn’t.” Why is that? Andrew frets that they would have charged him for it if he just tossed it out. But they can’t. [More]
Bosley Agrees To Stop Sharing Sensitive Business Info With Hair Club And Others
By April 8, 2013
For some men, losing their hair is a very sensitive issue, and remedying it through means surgical and non-surgical can be quite expensive. So it doesn’t help when some of the biggest players in the hair-replacement business are sharing information that could result in consumers not getting a competitive price. [More]
Neiman Marcus, Other Retailers, Settle Charges Of Selling Fake Fur That Contained Actual Fur
By March 19, 2013
There are a lot of people out there who like the look and feel of fur, but have a problem with the idea of actually wearing it. That’s why there is faux fur. But what’s the point of going faux when some retailers don’t divulge that a fake fur product might indeed be the real deal? [More]
FTC Says Social Media Ads Have To Be Held To Same Rules As Traditional Ads
By March 13, 2013
One of the important duties held by the Federal Trade Commission is making sure ads don’t mislead consumers. Yesterday the FTC set out clear rules for short-form ads on social media like Twitter and Facebook as well. Namely, they have to be held to the same basic requirement as other advertising — be upfront about what’s going on. [More]
Feds Shut Down Telemarketing Scam Aimed At Elderly
By March 11, 2013
It’s bad enough to call up an elderly person and mislead him or her into paying a pile of cash for a medical alert service they don’t need or want. But what takes one Brooklyn-based telemarketing scheme to the next level was its alleged tendency to bill consumers thousands of dollars for something they never ordered. [More]
FTC Goes After Spammers Responsible For 180 Million “Free Gift Card” Text Messages
By March 7, 2013
Through eight lawsuits filed in four different U.S. District Courts, the Federal Trade Commission has put the regulatory smackdown on 29 alleged text spammers believed to have blasted out more than 180 million unwanted text messages to consumers. [More]
ID Theft Not Just Fodder For Wacky Comedies, Also Tops FTC’s List Of Most Complained-About Issues Of 2012
By February 26, 2013
The Federal Trade Commission has finally sorted through the more than 2 million complaints filed by consumers during 2012, and once again identity theft identity theft was by far the most griped-about issue of them all. [More]
Debt Collectors Keep Calling About Bogus Debt, Even After Being Threatened With Suit
By February 19, 2013
From calling at all hours of the day and night to contacting you at work, we’ve told you before about the large number of banned practices for debt collectors. But one man says he’s the victim of a tenacious debt collector trying to collect a debt he doesn’t even owe. [More]
Study: Errors Found In As Many As 26% Of Consumers’ Credit Reports
By February 11, 2013
You should really check your credit reports at least once a year. If you don’t believe us, you should check out the results of the Federal Trade Commission’s latest study, which shows just how rife with errors the reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion can be. [More]
5 Examples Why Just About Everyone Hates Debt Collectors
By February 6, 2013
People go into debt. The businesses that own that debt want their money. This is why the world needs debt collectors. But what the world doesn’t need are debt collectors who harass, lie, and threaten to take debtors’ children and pets away. [More]
FTC Says It’s Got 744 Ideas On How To Stop Robocalls & Turning Off The Phone Isn’t One
By January 31, 2013
Spurred on not only by the reward of finally ending those dagnabbed robocalls, but also a $50,000 prize, consumers submitted 744 ideas to the Federal Trade Commission in its FTC Robocall Challenge. Considering how widespread our collective annoyance is with the phone nuisances, we sure do hope one of these succeeds. [More]
