Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

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On June 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) Office of Servicemember Affairs published its Annual Report analyzing complaints submitted by servicemembers, veterans, and their families in 2022. The report found that in 2022, servicemembers submitted over 66,400 complaints, representing a 55% increase from 2021, and a 62% increase from 2020. As in prior years, credit reporting remained the top issue for servicemembers, followed by debt collection and credit cards. Nonetheless, much of the report focused on the rising number of complaints from servicemembers related to payment app fraud and recommended steps the industry can take to address this issue.

On June 12, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) published a request for public comment seeking comments and suggestions on effective coordination efforts with state attorneys general nationwide to help educate and protect consumers from potential fraud. This comes at the direction of the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021, which was signed into law last October by President Joe Biden.

The Collaboration Act directs the FTC to “conduct a study on facilitating and refining existing efforts with State Attorneys to prevent, publicize, and penalize frauds and scams being perpetrated on individuals in the United States.”

On June 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a request for information (RFI) to gain additional insight into how it can optimize joint enforcement with state attorneys general (state AGs) to protect consumers from fraud. The announcement signals a growing trend of cooperation between the FTC and state AGs, which we have also seen between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the state regulators.

As discussed here and here, in October 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a $3.38 million settlement with Passport Automotive Group (Passport) and two of its officers over allegations that the automotive group violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the FTC Act by adding “junk fees” onto the cost of its…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with Nexway, Inc. (Nexway), its affiliated companies, and officers for allegedly facilitating tech support scams in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). Nexway allegedly used its merchant account to knowingly process consumer payments for third parties engaging in…

On April 25, officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (together, the Agencies) issued a joint statement warning against the potential for automated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI), used in…

On April 14, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in related cases, Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Cochran, holding that constitutional challenges to the agencies’ structures can proceed directly in federal district court before raising them in administrative hearings before the agencies. The…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with three companies over an alleged telemarketing scam involving extended automobile warranties. In addition to imposing a penalty of $6.6 million, which is largely suspended based on the companies’ inability to pay, the stipulated order includes a lifetime ban from the extended automobile warranty industry and…

Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with the stated intent to make it easier for consumers to cancel recurring subscriptions and memberships. This rulemaking is part of the FTC’s review of its Negative Option Rule. Amongst other things, the proposed rule would increase the coverage of the Negative Option…

On March 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted a report to Congress discussing its findings regarding the frauds, scams, and bad business practices that affect American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and the FTC’s efforts to address these issues. Specifically, the FTC asserts that auto purchasing and financing, predatory lending, impersonation scams, tech…