Consumer Alerts

It’s the Business Blog equivalent of a Thanksgiving tradition: our annual reminder to share tips at your holiday gathering about avoiding those other kinds of turkeys – consumer scams. We’ve

Under COPPA, how do I know if my channel is “directed to children”? Since the FTC and New York Attorney General announced their September 2019 settlement with YouTube for violations of the Children’s

The Commission and Department of Justice’s recent case against Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corporation for violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act makes an important point: restructuring

Holmes & Watson. Crockett & Tubbs. Cagney & Lacey. The anna ls of f iction are replete with dynamic law enforcement duos. But their make-believe exploits can’t compare with the real-life efforts of

Entrepreneurs wear a lot of hats. In addition to marketing their products, they’re responsible for operational functions like inventory, ordering, and the protection of customer data. Rather than

As Veterans Day reminds us, no one knows better than members of the military why it’s critical to maintain a vigilant defense. The more than 2.5 million veterans who own small businesses can apply

Parties regularly present their arguments and defenses of conduct and mergers to the Front Office of the Bureau if staff has recommended a challenge. A surprising number of these presentations begin

Are you an influencer who works with brands to recommend or endorse products or services in social media? Or perhaps you’re an advertiser that uses influencers in your marketing. The FTC just issued a

Sometimes FTC cases affirm important legal principles in the courtroom. In other cases, we’re able to get money back for consumers injured by a company’s illegal conduct. The FTC’s action against AT&T

Imagine people who have lost the ability to speak communicating in a digital version of their own voice. With just a brief recorded snippet, researchers can use artificial intelligence and text-to

In tribute to the baseball season that’s just ended, we’ll start this blog post about an alleged pyramid scheme and supposed miraculous dietary supplements with the words of the great Yogi Berra: “ It

For the good of the antitrust bar and our entire profession, the BC Front Office encourages parties to give associates, counsel, and newer partners more opportunities to present to the Bureau and the

They’re called “notices,” but do consumers really notice them? Convening at 9:00 Eastern Time this morning, October 29th, Consumers and Class Action Notices: An FTC Workshop will take a closer look at

When it comes to fraud, there’s no such thing as a generation gap. According to reports in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, fraud affects every generation. But that’s only half the story. What

Aloe and cranberry: a useful plant and a nutritious fruit. But are they clinically proven alone or in combination to treat diabetes, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and a list of other serious

There are perceptions some people seem to have about older consumers – and then there’s the data we see in fraud reports from consumers of that age group. Protecting Older Consumers 2018-2019: A

You know that eerie feeling that someone is following your every move? If someone secretly installed a “stalking app” or “stalkerware” sold by Retina-X Studios, LLC, onto your mobile device, that

There isn’t a competition to find ways to use social media to mislead consumers. (At least we hope there isn’t.) But with apologies to fans of a certain British baking program, separate FTC actions

It’s International Charity Fraud Awareness Week, a global effort to help charities and donors avoid charity fraud. The FTC has united with state charities regulators, the National Association of State

The FTC regularly revisits rules on the books to make sure they’re effective and up to date. Right now the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule is under review. We asked for public comments