Articles Posted in FTC Consumer Protection Highlights

On June 12, the FTC asked the court to halt the deceptive practices and misrepresentations and to freeze the BurnLounge’s assets, pending a trial, to preserve them for consumer redress. On June 6, 2007, the FTC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against BurnLounge, Inc. The complaint…

On May 31, the FTC asserts that public agencies can help reduce the incidence and impact of identity theft. The FTC, in a discussion with the Ohio Privacy and Public Records Access Study Committee in Columbus, also affirms that government agencies should limit the amount of information they collect, restrict access to the information, and…

On May 15, the FTC banned Elliot Krasnow from ever promoting or selling franchises or business opportunities ever again. Along with his company Netvertise, Inc, Krasnow returned $160,000 to consumers after the FTC charged that they used bogus earnings claims to lure franchisees into buying their Web services businesses, and failed to tell customers that…

On May 8, the FTC banned a scammer from telemarketing and from selling any type of business program in the future. Richard C. Neiswonger, who boasted that consumers could earn a six-figure income if they purchased and used his $10,000 asset protection service business program, had previously been previously charged with falsely claiming that consumers…

On April 27, the FTC settled charges against two companies for unfair and deceptive rebate practices. The FTC’s complaint against Soyo, Inc., a Nevada corporation, alleges that most of Soyo’s rebates were delivered late – in some cases, consumers had to wait a year or longer for their checks to arrive. The FTC’s complaint against…

On April 24, the FTC mailed out an additional 1,500 claim forms for reimbursement to consumers who may have been victims of identity theft due to alleged security lapses at data broker ChoicePoint, Inc. In December, 2006, the FTC mailed claim forms to 1,400 consumers. In 2005, ChoicePoint, which compiles and sells personal information, announced…

On March 12, Kmart Corporation agreed to settle FTC’s charges that it engaged in deceptive practices in advertising and selling its Kmart gift card. Kmart will implement a refund program and publicize it on its Web site. This is the agency’s first law enforcement action involving gift cards. According to the FTC’s complaint, Kmart promoted…

On February 28, Nicholas C. Albert, an affiliate Webmaster who used the allure of “free” music downloads to spread malicious computer code, is settling FTC charges he violated federal law. The defendant, who was paid to distribute the code by the company that developed it, will give up all of his ill-gotten gains and is…

On February 2, a Canadian telemarketer that falsely claimed it could reduce U.S. consumers’ credit card rates, was stopped by a federal court. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the defendants have sold credit card interest rate reduction services since December 2005, claiming affiliation with consumers’ credit card companies. The defendants promise to effect credit card…

On January 8th, a payment processor violated federal law when it debited, or tried to debit, more than $9.9 million from consumers’ bank accounts – at $139 each – without their approval. According to a complaint the FTC filed in federal court, Nevada-based InterBill Ltd. acted on behalf of a fraudulent enterprise known as “Pharmacycards.com.”…