Do you need money? Everybody does, am I right? But not everyone has time to become a Wall Street lawyer. That’s why you need a simple, 3-step system to guide you through the process of making millions from the comfort of your own home. Unfortunately, you won’t be hearing about that system from Russ “Winning in the Cash Flow Business” Dalbey or his wife Catherine, as they have been banned from stinking up your late-night TV watching with any of their infomercials. [More]
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‘Winning In The Cash Flow Business’ Scammers Banned From Polluting Airwaves With Infomercials
By 7.31.13
Nearly 1-In-5 Funeral Homes Found Violating Consumer Protection Rules
By 7.24.13
In 1984, the Federal Trade Commission enacted the Funeral Rule, a set of consumer protection guidelines for U.S. funeral home operators covering everything from pricing transparency to casket-handling fees. And every year, FTC investigators go undercover to spot-check the funeral home industry to see if folks are abiding by the rules. According to the latest report, a significant number of them are not. [More]
Skechers Shape-Ups Magic Workout Shoes Refund Checks In The Mail
By 7.15.13
If you bought Skechers Shape-Ups shoes and filed with the Federal Trade Commission for a refund, get ready to go shopping for some new sneakers: your check will be in the mail soon. Skechers hasn’t admitted that they did anything wrong, but did reach a $40 million settlement with the FTC for putting out ads that claimed walking around in their shoes is a workout. [Previously] [More]
World’s Largest Debt Collector To Pay $3.2 Million Penalty For Harassing Consumers
By 7.9.13
It’s highly possible you’ve never heard of Expert Global Solutions, but it’s the largest debt-collection operation in the world. It also is the subject of a recent Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that the company and its subsidiaries violated federal law by harassing consumers. [More]
Mortgage Broker To Pay Record $7.5M Penalty Over Allegations It Violated “Do Not Call” Rules
By 6.27.13
The Federal Trade Commission is marking the 10-year anniversary of the “Do Not Call” registry by announcing a $7.5 million civil penalty against a mortgage broker that had allegedly targeted U.S. servicemembers. It’s the largest fee the FTC has ever collected related to the Do Not Call provisions Telemarketing Sales Rule, and also serves as warning to companies trying to push deceptive mortgage ads. [More]
FTC Initiative Wants You To “Reclaim Your Name” From Big Data Brokers
By 6.27.13
We all know that there are companies out there sucking up consumers’ information and selling it — sometimes to people or entities they shouldn’t — but what no one really knows is exactly who has that data. While there are a few ways for consumers to check activity data on specific sites, there’s no catch-all resource for people to go to and see what their name/info is up to. The Federal Trade Commission wants to change that with a “Reclaim Your Name” proposal. [More]
FTC To Search Engines: Do A Better Job Of Labeling Paid Search Results As Ads
By 6.26.13
A decade ago, the Federal Trade Commission told the major Internet search engines that they should be more transparent about search results that received premium placement because the advertiser paid for it. The companies eventually obliged, but the FTC says that search engines have backslid and begun being less-than-transparent again, and that they could still do more to distinguish between ads and organic search results. [More]
FTC To Google: Hang On A Minute While We Investigate This Waze Deal
By 6.24.13
Google might want to start trying to pour the bubbly it poured over its $1.1 billion acquisition of social mapping company Waze back into the bottle, at least until the Federal Trade Commission is done with its antitrust review of the deal. The company confirmed that it’s been contacted by antitrust lawyers from the FTC, which isn’t a surprise. You take one huge company and have it buy up another smaller one, and the FTC will be there. [More]
Supreme Court Rules FTC Can Challenge Deals Intended To Delay Release Of Generic Drugs
By 6.17.13
When a generic version of a drug comes on the market, the holder of the brand-name drug’s patent stands to see a steep drop in sales as many customers switch to the lower-price option. Thus, some companies will go to great lengths to delay the release of generics. One such method, dubbed “pay-for-delay,” involves the patent-holder suing manufacturers of generics and then settling for millions of dollars with the agreement that the generic suppliers will hold off on releasing their product. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission has the right to challenge these sorts of deals. [More]
Kellogg Finally Settles “Frosted Mini-Wheats Don’t Make You Smarter” Class Action Lawsuit
By 5.31.13 — Updated: 6.5.13
Way back in 2009, Kellogg Company reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to stop advertising its Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal as some kind of magical brain booster that would make kids smarter. But it’s taken four years for that issue to finally be put to bed after finally reaching a $4 million settlement in a class action lawsuit related to the same advertising. [More]
Court Finally Signs Off On $40 Million In Skechers Shape-Ups Refunds
By 5.14.13
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]
FTC Handing Out $1.7M In Refunds To Victims Of “Free Government Grant” Scam
By 5.9.13
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 5.7.13
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 4.30.13 — Updated: 5.1.13
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 4.19.13
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 4.18.13
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 4.17.13
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 4.12.13
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]
