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Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. And possibly face criminal charges. That’s the message of Operation Corrupt Collector, a coast-to-coast crackdown by the FTC, three other federal agencies, and partners from 16 states. Operation Corrupt Collector encompasses more than 50 actions challenging some of the worst-of-the-worst debt collection tactics, including phantom debt collection – the practice of coercing consumers to pay debts they don’t owe...

What’s in a name? According to an FTC lawsuit filed in April, if you’re an outfit that uses the name “SBA Loan Program” – and you falsely claim to be an approved lender for the Small Business Administration’s coronavirus relief lending program – what’s in your name is deception. Under the terms of a settlement, that shady tactic stops right here, right now. For many small businesses struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, SBA’s Paycheck...

It’s National Small Business Week, a time set aside annually to salute American’s 30 million small businesses – companies that employ almost half of the country’s private sector workforce. The special focus this year is on the resilience and resolve of entrepreneurs and workers as they battle back against the impact of the pandemic. In addition to virtual events sponsored by the Small Business Administration, National Small Business Week is a...

Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act and Rules, parties cannot use a transaction structure for the purpose of avoiding or delaying their premerger filing obligation. If they do, the Commission must ignore the structure and review the substance of the transaction as a whole to determine whether an HSR filing is required. Premerger Notification Office (PNO) staff have recently rethought some prior advice, and today PNO is withdrawing a 2003...

Oh, what a tangled web they weave, When with telemarketing scams they do deceive. Sir Walter Scott – no, it wasn’t Shakespeare – didn’t have deceptive telemarketing or illegal robocalls in mind when he penned the original version of that couplet. But peel back the façade of an illegal telemarketing operation and you’re likely to find a convoluted network of companies and individuals lending a harmful hand to the detriment of consumers. The FTC’s...

Data To Go: An FTC Workshop on Data Portability begins at 8:30 Eastern Time this morning, Tuesday, September 22, 2020. Hosted by the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and Bureau of Consumer Protection, the virtual event will examine the potential benefits and challenges to consumers and competition of data portability – when people can move data (for example, emails, contacts, calendars, financial or health information, favorites, friends, or social...

Natives and fans heartily agree that “Cleveland Rocks!” That’s why the �鶹��ý Trade Commission and its Ohio partners are ready to roll with the next installment of Green Lights & Red Flags: FTC Rules of the Road for Business, set to make its online debut on October 29, 2020, from Cleveland. The free business workshop focuses on current topics in truth-in-advertising law, social media marketing, data security, business-to-business fraud, and more...

Fundraiser Outreach Calling’s telephone pitches were persuasive. Generous Americans opened their hearts and wallets to fund personal care packs for hospitalized veterans, support services for women with breast cancer, “financial assistance for families of officers killed in the line of duty,” and other charitable programs – or so they thought. According to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and the Attorneys General of New York, Virginia, Minnesota, and...

In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, the FTC alleged that Online Trading Academy made unsubstantiated mega-bucks promises about their purported investment training programs. According to the complaint – and the defendants’ own data – for most OTA customers, the only time they saw big money was as it flew out of their hands and into the defendants’ pockets. Under the terms of a settlement, OTA founder Eyal Shachar and others will pay millions...

“Take out” takes on a whole new meaning when it involves your data. Consumers and industry members are giving more thought to the issue of data portability – the ability of consumers to move data (such as emails, contacts, calendars, financial information, health information, favorites, friends, or content posted on social media) from one service to another or to their own files. That’s the topic of a September 22, 2020, virtual event, Data To Go...