The Federal Trade Commission focused on combating fraud and deceptive practices this week, suing the operators of an alleged government impersonation scheme targeting consumers seeking passport and visa services. The agency also highlighted a court victory permanently banning a debt relief operation from the industry and imposing a $108.6 million judgment, and issued its annual report to Congress documenting sharply rising fraud losses among older adults. These stories and more after the jump.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took steps this week to enforce consumer protection across health care, advertising, and entertainment. The FTC targeted the operator of a sextortion relief scheme for allegedly defrauding consumers out of millions of dollars through false promises and deceptive practices. Additionally, the FTC sued a ticket broker that allegedly unlawfully purchased millions of tickets to live events, depriving consumers of access to reasonably priced tickets. These stories and more, after the jump.

The Federal Trade Commission continued its active enforcement agenda this week, targeting deceptive pricing practices across the healthcare, automotive, and retail sectors. The agency also took action against a martial arts franchisor for misleading earnings claims, secured a Robinson-Patman Act resolution involving wholesale T-shirt distributors, and distributed millions of dollars in consumer refunds stemming from prior settlements. These stories and more after the jump.