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Court Finalizes Injunction and Monetary Judgment against Illegal Telemarketing Operation and its Owners
FTC Action Leads to Ban for Ganadores Real Estate and Income Scam, its Owner, and Managers
Vision Online Inc. and Ganadores IBR, Inc., FTC v.
Under the terms of proposed federal court orders, several defendants in the case—including the companies behind Ganadores, the companies’ owners and managers Richard and Sara Alvarez, and an employee who played a key role in the marketing of the scheme, Bryce Chamberlain—will be permanently banned from selling ecommerce or real estate coaching services and will be required to turn over substantial assets to the FTC, which will be used to provide refunds to consumers harmed by the scam
FTC Acts Against Operators of Income Scheme “The Sales Mentor” That Charged Consumers Millions for Bogus Telemarketing Advice
Traffic and Funnels, LLC., FTC v.
The Federal Trade Commission has obtained proposed orders against the operators of a wide-ranging scheme known as “The Sales Mentor” that made millions by falsely promising consumers that they could make big money from telemarketing sales.
The defendants have agreed to proposed court orders that would require them to pay a total of $1 million for consumer refunds.
In a federal court complaint, the FTC charged the Tennessee-based group of companies, their owners, their officers, and a former sales director with deceiving consumers to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for supposed telemarketing training programs that rarely, if ever, delivered on what was promised. In addition, the FTC said the companies continued to make deceptive earnings claims even after they received the FTC’s Notices of Penalty Offenses on money-making opportunities and on endorsements and testimonials warning them that such conduct is illegal.
The University of Phoenix, Inc.
In December 2019, the FTC announced The University of Phoenix and its parent company agreed to pay a record $191 million to resolve allegations that they used deceptive advertisements falsely touting their relationships and job opportunities with companies such as AT&T, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Twitter, and The American Red Cross. The settlement order requires UOP to pay $50 million in cash, as well as cancel $141 million in debts owed to the school by students harmed by the deceptive ads.
In March 2021, the FTC sent payments totaling nearly $50 million to more than 147,000 UOP students who may have been lured by allegedly deceptive advertisements.
In late September 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will forgive nearly $37 million in federal loans for more than 1,200 students affected by the University of Phoenix’s deceptive practices, based in part on the FTC’s 2019 case.
James D. Noland, Jr. (Success by Health)
A federal court granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request to temporarily shut down an alleged pyramid scheme known as “Success By Health,” and to freeze the assets of the company and its executives.
In May 2023, a federal court sided with the Federal Trade Commission, ruling that James D. Noland, Jr. illegally owned and operated two pyramid schemes—Success By Health (SBH) and VOZ Travel—in violation of the FTC Act and that Noland violated a previous federal court order barring him from pyramid schemes and from misrepresenting multilevel marketing participants’ income potential.
FTC Acts to Stop Real Estate and Online Commerce Coaching Scheme ‘Ganadores’ Targeting Spanish-Speaking Consumers With Brazen Money-Making Pitches
New FTC Data Analysis Shows Bank Impersonation is Most-Reported Text Message Scam
Federal Court Finds James D. ‘Jay’ Noland, Jr., Operator of ‘Success By Health’ and ‘VOZ Travel,’ in Contempt of Court Order Barring Pyramid Schemes
FTC Suit Leads to $16.7 Million Judgment Against Principals and Celebrity Endorsers of Real Estate Investment Training Program
FTC Explores Changes, Possible Expansion of Its Business Opportunity Rule
16 CFR Part 437: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Business Opportunities (ANPR)
Remarks of Chair Lina M. Khan Regarding the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Earnings Claims
FTC Takes Action to Combat Bogus Money-Making Claims Used to Lure People into Dead-end Debt Traps
Operators of Investment Coaching Scheme Banned from Industry and Ordered to Pay Millions in Redress to Defrauded Consumers
FTC Returns $1.1 Million to Consumers Who Lost Money to Alleged Scammers Selling Bogus Income Opportunities
Prepared Statement of Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter: Strengthening the Federal Trade Commission's Authority to Protect Consumers
Prepared Statement of Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips: Strengthening the Federal Trade Commission's Authority to Protect Consumers
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