On February 10, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will begin distributing over $1.7 million to consumers that it claims lost money as a result of an alleged student loan debt relief scheme. The payments are part of a 2018 settlement with a student debt relief group, previously covered by Enforcement Watch, that resolved…
On February 10, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced settlements with two payment processing companies and two individuals, resolving claims concerning an alleged credit card laundering scheme perpetrated in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C. § 53(b), and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act (Telemarketing Act), 15 U.S.C. §§…
On January 29, 2021, the FTC announced that it filed a proposed settlement in the District of Nevada with two Nevada-based consulting companies, resolving claims that the companies violated the FTC Act, Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, Telemarketing Sales Rule, Credit Repair Organizations Act, and Consumer Review Fairness Act. The FTC alleged that, since…
On December 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (Commission) announced that it reached a settlement with a payment processor and its former CEO for alleged violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA). The complaint alleges that the payment processor illegally processed more than $93 million in consumer credit card charges related to fraudulent…
On November 30, 2020 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with a debt collection company for its “debt parking scheme” (also known as “passive debt collection”) in which the company allegedly placed bogus or questionable debts on consumers’ credit reports in an attempt to coerce them to pay the…
On November 19, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with three California-based student loan debt relief companies and their founder after they allegedly misled consumers by falsely promising that their monthly payments would go toward lowering their student loan debt. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District…
On November 18, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a complaint against a California-based mobile banking app and its founder and CEO for allegedly falsely misrepresenting to users that they would receive high interests rates on their banking accounts and that they would have constant access to their funds. According to the complaint,…
On September 29, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with more than 50 federal and state law enforcement partners, announced a nationwide law enforcement and outreach initiative designed to protect consumers from phantom debt collection, and abusive and threatening debt collection practices….
On September 29, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had filed a pair of lawsuits in federal district court against two debt collection companies, related entities, and owners for allegedly violating the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The FTC…
On July 24, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it settled charges with the operators of a Florida-based company that allegedly defrauded financially-distressed and often older-adult consumers with deceptive robocalls. The proposed court order would ban the defendants from selling debt relief services and from all telemarketing based on…
On May 22, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had obtained a temporary restraining order against a payday lending enterprise for alleged violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z, and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and…
On May 19, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had reached a $40.2 million settlement with a payment processing company and one of its executives after the company allegedly failed to monitor and heed warnings that the executive was processing payments and laundering for fraudulent companies. The simultaneously-filed complaint alleges that…
On March 30, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached a settlement with three student loan debt relief companies and their owner, resolving allegations that the companies made false promises to consumers and charged illegal fees in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15…
On March 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it obtained a permanent injunction and monetary judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (the Court) against three defendants that allegedly deceptively marketed student loan debt relief services. The Court’s order was entered on February 27, 2020, and…
On January 17, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled with several operators of a credit repair scheme for alleged violations of sections 13(b) and 19 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 53(b) and 57b, Section 410(b) of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), 15 U.S.C. § 1679h(b), Section 6(b) of the…
On December 10, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) jointly hosted a workshop on accuracy in consumer reporting. The workshop was divided into four panels and featured a variety of speakers ranging from consumer advocates to industry representatives. Each panel sought to address the…
On December 11, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had reached a settlement with the remaining Defendants in an enforcement action against multiple related companies and their controllers involved in an alleged phantom debt scheme in which the Defendants pressured consumers into paying non-existent debts by threatening legal action…
On December 30, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada had ruled in its favor in a case against the operators of a mortgage scheme that deceived homeowners, which was filed in January 2018. Per the findings of the final…
On December 10, 2019, the FTC announced a settlement with a major for-profit university and its parent company to resolve allegations that they deceived potential students in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act), 15 U.S.C.§ 45. According to the FTC, the defendants used advertisements to attract students…
On December 5, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Texas has halted the operations of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out…