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“For many years, Western Union’s money transfer system has been used by fraudsters around the world to obtain money from their victims.” That’s how the FTC’s complaint against Western Union opens – and it tells a compelling story of a corporation the FTC says knew that massive fraud was afoot and had the ability to address it, but chose to look the other way. It didn’t end there because according to the lawsuit, even in the face of obvious...

As part of the FTC’s historic $200 million settlement with Herbalife, about 350,000 Herbalife distributors should be watching their mail for a partial refund check. The FTC has more information about the refunds and advice for people thinking about investing in a multilevel marketing opportunity. But it’s also a good time for some straight talk with members of the MLM industry. The FTC has a more than 40-year history challenging unfair and...

Ads for Prevagen claimed that the purported memory improvement supplement is “The Name to Remember,” but according to a lawsuit filed by the FTC and the New York Attorney General, it’s a product consumers might be better off forgetting. Ever “walk into a room and forget why,” “spend extra time looking for car keys or purse,” or have “trouble remembering names or faces”? The defendants pitched Prevagen, a supplement containing a protein found in...

“ Just like the white winged dove sings a song,” you can count on the BCP Business Blog to celebrate the “Edge of Seventeen” – 2017, of course – with a recap of in-case-you-missed-it developments from 2016. (Sorry, Stevie Nicks. That was a stretch.) In no particular order, here is our take on ten noteworthy consumer protection actions from the year gone by. Green claims. Any recap has to highlight the historic $10 billion partial settlement with...

Before we start making New Year’s resolutions for 2017, let’s assess last year’s pledges. In announcing Operation Collection Protection, a coordinated federal-state-local initiative to take on illegal debt collection practices, we made two promises: 1) to continue our commitment in the courtroom, if necessary; and 2) to foster close working relationships with law enforcement partners across the country. Here’s what we have to report. On the law...

Claims about employment prospects and income levels are like any other objective advertising representation – and Job #1 for advertisers is to support those promises with solid evidence. DeVry University and its parent company have entered into a $100 million settlement to resolve the FTC’s allegations that the defendants’ claims didn’t make the grade. According to the FTC, DeVry violated the law by deceptively claiming that 90% of its grads...

If you care about data security and privacy, you’ll want to read about the FTC’s settlement with ruby Corporation, ruby Life Inc., and ADL Media Inc. – the companies that operate AshleyMadison.com. AshleyMadison.com advertised a dating website that’s “100% secure and anonymous.” It bolstered those claims by including an icon of a “Trusted Security Award” and an image indicating that the website was a “100% discreet service.” The website lured you...

Is it time for a little heart-to-heart about making health claims for mobile apps? An FTC settlement with California-based Aura Labs challenges misleading representations the company made about its Instant Blood Pressure app. In addition, if you keep your finger on the pulse of FTC endorsement law, the complaint describes a course of conduct marketers will want to avoid. According to the FTC, Aura represented that its app would serve as a...

Chances are that you or someone you know will be among 2.7 million AT&T Mobility customers who will be getting a refund soon. The FTC is returning a total of $88 million to people who were billed for premium text message services they didn’t authorize. But even if the settlement doesn’t directly benefit you as a consumer, it offers insights for business people about the steps the FTC takes to get refunds back to consumers – and the seriousness...

When submitting a Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification filing to the FTC and DOJ, a filing party must complete the HSR Form. The HSR Form requires detailed information about the transaction and the filing party’s business, and requires the submission of certain documents. In particular, Item 4(c) of the HSR Form requires filers to submit documents prepared by or for officers or directors used to evaluate or analyze the acquisition with...