MilConsumer Blog Feed

FTC staff sent the latest round of warning letters to 35 businesses alleged to have made unsubstantiated coronavirus prevention or treatment claims. What they sold diverges widely – IV vitamin treatments, products containing silver, patches purporting to block electromagnetic radiation, etc. – but they have one thing in common: According to the FTC, their claims aren’t supported by sound science. Here are the companies that received the letters...

A large-scale scam involving phony unemployment benefits claims has been making headlines. Criminals, possibly based overseas, are filing claims for benefits, using the names and personal information of people who have not lost their jobs. The investigation is ongoing, but this much is known: the fraud is affecting tens of thousands of people, slowing the delivery of benefits to people in real need, and costing states hundreds of millions of...

Ostriches get a bad rap. The popular perception is that the species Struthio camelus bury their heads in the sand. But, in fact, they flee from perceived danger at speeds that top 60 miles per hour. An FTC proposed settlement with a payment processor that ignored signs that certain clients were engaged in fraud suggests that more companies should follow the real-life example of the ostrich and hightail it away from any association with illegal...

I am pleased to announce the appointment of a new manager in the Bureau of Competition: Patty McDermott has joined the Anticompetitive Practices Division as Deputy Assistant Director. Patty has served in the FTC’s Health Care Division since 2014, and received the Commission’s Louis D. Brandeis Award in 2018 for leading the trial team in FTC v. AbbVie . Before joining the FTC, Patty worked in private practice and clerked for the Honorable Cameron...

The FTC’s complaint against Bronx Honda alleges the company jacked up what consumers had to pay by fabricating fees, inflating charges, and sneaking in stealth add-ons. The lawsuit also alleges the defendants discriminated against African-American and Hispanic consumers by charging them higher financing markups and fees, in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Reg B. The $1.5 million proposed settlement, which requires the company to...

Over the past few years, the Bureau has faced a surprising number of failing firm claims by merging parties. Even when the economy was booming, we heard many iterations of the same argument: The acquired firm is failing. The acquiring firm is failing. Both firms are failing (which presumably would justify the merger on the basis that if you tie two sinking rocks together, they’re more likely to float). The entire industry is failing. But despite...

For a company called Harvest Moon, its business practices sure leave consumers in the dark about key aspects of its payday loans. That’s what the FTC alleges in a case filed in federal court in Nevada. Using consumer-facing names like Harvest Moon Financial, Gentle Breeze Online, and Green Stream Lending, 11 related Nevada- and California-based defendants – including a tribal lending enterprise chartered under the laws of the La Posta Band of...

Elderberry, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, mushrooms, and horse milk. (Horse milk?) The FTC just sent 50 more warning letters to companies promoting products or services advertised to prevent or treat coronavirus. Here’s the latest list of who’s been warned, what they’re selling, and some of what they’re saying. Acupuncture Healing Center. The Chicago company claimed in marketing materials that its treatments can “facilitate the body’s immune...

Our men and women in uniform take on unique hardships when they choose to serve. Identity theft shouldn’t be one of them. But the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database shows that active duty servicemembers file reports about many forms of identity theft – and related problems with debt collection and credit reporting – at much higher rates than non-military consumers. Five years of identity theft data reported to the FTC on IdentityTheft.gov...

Just as consumers are engaging in social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, businesses, too, should distance themselves from companies using robocalls to spread coronavirus-related scams. That’s the message of joint warning letters just sent by the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission . These aren’t the first letters to VoIP service providers, but there’s something different this time. According to the warning letter to Canadian...