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FTC staff also provides consultation and support for FTC cases where the court order requires the defendants—or another federal agency—to conduct a refund program. Only in rare circumstances do FTC settlements result in self-administered refund programs. When the FTC determines that this is in the best interest of the affected consumers, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Division engages in close oversight and monitoring of the program. If the defendants failed to conduct them appropriately, they would be in violation of the order. In these cases, FTC staff provides guidance about the proposed refund program to make sure eligible claimants receive plain language instructions about how to apply for a refund.

The FTC creates and maintains webpages for each FTC-related refund program, including those that are not administered by the FTC. This year, there were more than a million visits to these refund pages. A chart that links to all current FTC refund programs is available at www.ftc.gov/refunds, which is designed to help consumers verify that the check they have received is legitimate and to answer common questions. This year, the FTC assisted with four programs that are being administered by the defendant or another federal agency. Here are the details: