Tag: Bureau of Consumer Protection

A payment processor that allegedly ignored clear warning signs its client was operating an unlawful business coaching and investment scheme will be barred from processing payments in the business coaching field under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

According to the FTC’s complaint against California-based QualPay, the company for years processed payments for MOBE, a scheme the FTC alleged charged consumers hundreds of millions of dollars for worthless business coaching products, and that Qualpay ignored numerous signs that MOBE was a fraudulent business.

In January 2020, the sellers of a pill called ReJuvenation settled FTC charges that they deceptively claimed that their product is a virtual cure-all for age-related ailments—including cell damage, heart attack damage, brain damage, blindness, and deafness. The orders settling the FTC’s complaint prohibit the defendants from making such claims unless they are true and supported by scientific evidence. The orders also require payment of $660,000, which the Commission may use to provide refunds to defrauded consumers. In June 2020, the FTC announced it was sending checks totaling more than $149,000 to consumers who bought the product.

New York City car dealer Bronx Honda and its general manager, Carlo Fittanto, will pay $1.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges they discriminated against African-American and Hispanic car buyers and engaged in numerous other illegal business practices.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants told sales people to charge higher financing markups and fees to African-American and Hispanic customers. The defendants told employees that these groups should be targeted due to their limited education, and not to attempt the same practices with non-Hispanic white consumers. According to the complaint, African-American and Hispanic customers paid more for financing than similarly situated non-Hispanic white consumers.

The FTC entered into a settlement with the operators of LendEDU.com to resolve allegations that LendEDU falsely claimed that the website provided “objective,” “accurate,” and “unbiased” information about consumer financial products, such as student loans, personal loans, and credit cards, when in fact they offered higher rankings and ratings to companies that paid for placement.

In October 2019, the Florida-based marketers and sellers of two aloe vera-based supplements agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived consumers with false and unsupported claims that two products, TrueAloe and AloeCran, were effective treatments for a range of conditions affecting seniors, including chronic pain, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, and acid reflux. The court order resolving the complaint prohibits the sellters from making false and unsubstantiated health claims and requires them to pay $537,500. In May 2000, the FTC announced it was sending checks totaling more than $470,000 to consumers who bought the two supplements.