Blog

There’s a scam targeting doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, but you could be a part of the cure.

We’ve all heard the adage “Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” It’s been attributed to everyone from Vince Lombardi to Secretary of State James Baker. As we’ve discussed in the first four installments of our Franchise Fundamentals series, proper preparation – including a thorough pre-commitment investigation into the franchise – may help reduce the risk of painful problems later. But what if a franchisee is concerned that a subsequent business breakdown could be due to a franchisor’s precarious promises?

The INFORM Consumers Act took effect on June 27, 2023. The FTC has issued staff guidance for online marketplaces and now we have advice for online sellers whose businesses may be affected by the new law.

You’ve heard about scammers impersonating government agencies, global retailers, and even members of your family. The latest variation on the scheme targets business professionals, luring them in with what appear to be attractive “job offers” from well-known companies. You’ll be amazed at how far these bottom-feeding fraudsters will go to make those bogus “dream jobs” seem legit.

You think a franchise may be for you. You can’t wait to cut that ribbon and get your business up and running. But to avoid a false start, it makes sense to spend more time in the starting block. This post – the fourth in the FTC’s Franchise Fundamentals series – covers key steps to take before you’re off to the races: 1) carefully evaluating critical documents that may (or may not) be attached to the Franchise Disclosure Document, 2) scrutinizing...

Generative AI has the potential to rapidly transform the way we live, work, and interact. Within just a few months, generative AI chatbots and applications have launched and scaled across industries and reached hundreds of millions of people. AI is increasingly becoming a basic part of daily life. Generative AI depends on a set of necessary inputs. If a single company or a handful of firms control one or several of these essential inputs, they...

Every company knows it’s usually best to “get it in writing,” and a lot of time is spent negotiating contracts in the ordinary course of business. But some of those contracts contain provisions that can impede the Bureau’s law enforcement investigations of potentially harmful mergers and conduct. Our staff are hearing troubling reports about certain types of contract terms that can get in the way of open, candid conversations with the FTC...

There’s a new scheme that involves imposters preying on people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. The imposters pretend to be from the funeral home and say that, unless the family pays more money immediately, the funeral will be canceled. Can you imagine anything more despicable? That’s why we want to alert members of the funeral industry about the scam and hope other businesses will warn their employees and people in their community. If...

What you say in your home, what you do in your home. It doesn’t get more private than that. But, according to two recent FTC complaints, Amazon and Ring used this highly private data – voice recordings collected by Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and videos collected by Ring’s internet-connected home security cameras – to train their algorithms while giving short shrift to customers’ privacy. These matters, the first announced since the FTC’s new...

According to reports in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, text message scams took consumers for $330 million in 2022. The latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight focuses on this form of fraud. With reported losses more than doubling in 2021 and nearly five times what people reported in 2019, would you be able to spot the five most common text message scams? What about your employees? First, some background about what may be behind the...