Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

The end of October brought refunds for tens of thousands of consumers harmed by deceptive credit offers and auto sales practices as well as the temporary shutdown of operations allegedly scamming millions of dollars from consumers enticed to sell goods online. All this and more after the jump.

Monday, October 28, 2024

Business Opportunities and Investments: Online Business Scams

  • The Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 to file a complaint against Ecom Genie, a business opportunity scheme that has operated under various names. The complaint alleges that the scheme enticed consumers to sell goods online by promising lavish returns and violated the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule, which requires disclosures that would have made the scheme’s previous iterations apparent to consumers.
  • The scheme operators allegedly told consumers they could make over $100,000 per month, and social media ads, websites, and marketing emails advertised clients making tens of thousands of dollars per month in online sales. Rather than make money, many consumers lost their investment of tens of thousands of dollars. The FTC alleges that the operation, which guaranteed passive income, scammed consumers over $12 million. As a result of the complaint, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida temporarily shut down the scheme’s operation.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Credit and Finance: Auto Fees and Financing

  • In October 2023, the FTC and state of Wisconsin filed a complaint against auto dealer Rhinelander Auto Center, alleging the company charged customers illegal junk fees and discriminated against Native Americans. Rhinelander Auto allegedly charged customers for “add-on” products or services without their consent and charged Native Americans higher interest rates. Almost a year later, the FTC is sending over $1 million in refunds to more than 7,500 consumers harmed by Rhinelander’s deceptive and discriminatory practices.

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Credit & Loan Offers: Consumer Refunds

  • In September 2022, the FTC filed a complaint against Credit Karma, the credit services company, alleging that Credit Karma misled consumers by telling them they were “pre-approved” and had “90% odds” of approval, so they would apply for credit cards, for which many of them did not qualify. Credit Karma agreed to the FTC’s January 2023 Order to stop making these deceptive claims and to compensate harmed consumers. Now, the FTC is sending over $2.5 million to more than 50,000 consumers harmed by Credit Karma’s deceptive conduct. These consumers filed a valid claim before the claim deadline in March 2024. To learn how the Credit Karma case developed, read our posts following the case.