Blog

This is National Consumer Protection Week, a week set aside every year to help consumers know their rights and make well-informed choices in the marketplace. Here at the FTC, we’re all about protecting consumers. One way we do this is by enforcing the antitrust laws. Competition is the fuel that drives America’s free-market system. But competition can only thrive if firms respect the antitrust laws, which are the rules of the free market. When...

When internet fraudsters mimic a legitimate business to trick consumers into giving out their personal information, it’s called phishing. It’s not just a problem for consumers, but for the companies the scammers are impersonating too. The FTC has long provided advice to consumers about steps they can take to avoid phishing scams. But what should you do if customers contact your company upset that they responded to a phishing email from a scammer...

Imagine a series of promotions that involve pain relief promises, cognition claims, endorsements, 30-minute radio ads, “risk-free” money-back guarantees, “free” trial offers, negative options, telemarketing, and upsells of buying club memberships. What could possibly go wrong for consumers? Where would you like to start? The FTC and the Maine Attorney General announced settlements with six defendants and complaints against three others involved...

Congress unanimously passed the Consumer Review Fairness Act to protect people’s ability to share in any forum their honest opinions about a business’ products, services, or conduct. Some companies had been using contract provisions – including their online terms and conditions – to threaten to sue consumers or penalize them financially for posting negative reviews or complaints. The new law makes that illegal. FTC staff just issued Consumer...

Need to verify an applicant's employment or income history? Checking to see if a candidate has a criminal history or civil judgments? If you get information from a company that compiles it so you can make eligibility determinations, you must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). That means no double-dipping. If you get a consumer report for one purpose, don’t use it for a different purpose. The FCRA applies when you use consumer...

Consumers have bought more than 11 million internet-connected Vizio televisions since 2010. But according to a complaint filed by the FTC and the New Jersey Attorney General, consumers didn’t know that while they were watching their TVs, Vizio was watching them. The lawsuit challenges the company’s tracking practices and offers insights into how established consumer protection principles apply to smart technology. Starting in 2014, Vizio made TVs...

The newly released Remedy Study is the culmination of nearly two years of effort by FTC staff to look back at Commission merger orders from 2006 through 2012. We looked at 89 merger orders affecting 400 markets, with 79 divestitures to 121 buyers. We evaluated 50 of those orders using a case study method, interviewing nearly 200 businesses in a wide range of industries and collecting sales data from almost that many. The report synthesizes that...

Sometimes a sequel can be just as compelling as the original and we think a just-announced settlement that makes owners of 3.0 liter VW, Audi, and Porsche diesels eligible for more than $1 billion in payments fits that description. In June 2016, the FTC’s record-setting $10 billion settlement with VW alleged that the company pitched its 2.0 liter “clean diesel” vehicles as an attractive option for environmentally conscious consumers. But...

Fans of “Shark Tank” will remember it as one of the show’s most dramatic bidding wars. Charles Yim, CEO of Breathometer, pitched his smartphone-enabled breathalyzer as a way to “help people make smarter and safer decisions” about drinking and driving. All five sharks went for the product hook, line, and sinker. But according to the FTC, the defendants’ deceptive claims about the accuracy of the devices’ readings left consumers floundering. The...

With some exceptions, Section 8 of the Clayton Act prohibits the same individual from serving as an officer or director of two competing corporations. Like other portions of the forward-looking Clayton Act (including Section 7 with its proscription on mergers that are likely to harm competition), Section 8 was designed to “nip in the bud incipient violations of the antitrust laws by removing the opportunity or temptation to such violations...