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FTC Sends More Than $8.1 Million to Consumers Harmed by Care.com’s Deceptive Claims About Earnings, Job Listings, and Cancellation Practices
FTC Case Leads to Order Banning Ascend Ecom and Its Owners from Business Opportunity Marketing
Blackstone Legal
As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, a federal court has temporarily halted the operations and frozen the assets of a phantom debt collection scheme and its operators. The scheme has operated under numerous names, including Blackrock Services, Blackstone Legal Group, Capital Legal Services, Quest Legal Group, Viking Legal Services, and others.
According to the FTC’s complaint, the operators of this scheme are Ryan and Mitchell Evans and their affiliated companies. Debt collectors working for the scheme’s operators and their affiliated companies have sent consumers deceptive warning and collection letters or called them directly, claiming that consumers owed a debt of some kind and threatening legal action, wage garnishment, negative impacts to consumers’ credit, and even arrest if they don’t pay. The debts described in these letters and calls never existed, according to the complaint, and the defendants have no basis to make legal threats toward consumers.
In June 2025, the FTC announced a settlement that would ban Blackstone Legal and its owners from all debt collection and require surrender of assets.
Ascend Ecom
The FTC has filed a lawsuit against an online business opportunity scheme that it alleges has falsely claimed its “cutting edge” AI-powered tools would help consumers quickly earn thousands of dollars a month in passive income by opening online storefronts. According to the complaint, the scheme has defrauded consumers of at least $25 million.
According to the FTC’s complaint, the operators of the scheme charge consumers tens of thousands of dollars to start online stores on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, and TikTok, while also requiring them to spend tens of thousands more on inventory. Ascend’s advertising content claimed the company was a leader in ecommerce, using proprietary software and artificial intelligence to maximize clients’ business success.
The operators of Ascend Ecom, an online business opportunity that allegedly cost consumers millions of dollars, will be banned from selling business opportunities and required to turn over assets to the Federal Trade Commission under the terms of a proposed court order.
Walmart to Pay $10 Million to Settle FTC Allegations it Allowed Scammers to Obtain Millions from Consumers Using Company’s Wire Transfer Services
Operator of Ganadores Ecommerce and Real Estate Business Opportunity Scam Faces Lifetime Ban as a Result of FTC Action
Petition for Rulemaking of Alliance for Natural Health USA; Xlear, Inc.; and Better Way Health
FTC Sends More than $2 Million to Consumers Harmed by Scammers Pitching Bogus Money-Making and Coaching Programs
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., et al., In the Matter of
The Federal Trade Commission is acting against a large automotive dealer group, Asbury Automotive, for systematically charging consumers for costly add-on items they did not agree to or were falsely told were required as part of their purchase. The FTC also alleges that Asbury discriminates against Black and Latino consumers, targeting them with unwanted and higher-priced add-ons.
In an administrative complaint, the FTC alleges that three Texas dealerships owned by Asbury that operate as David McDavid Ford Ft. Worth, David McDavid Honda Frisco, and David McDavid Honda Irving, along with Ali Benli, who acted as general manager of those dealerships, engaged in a variety of practices to sneak hidden fees for unwanted add-ons past consumers. These tactics included a practice called “payment packing,” where the dealerships convinced consumers to agree to monthly payments that were larger than needed to pay for the agreed-upon price of the car, and then “packed” add-on items to the sales contract to make up that difference.
Paddle Will Pay $5 Million to Settle FTC Allegations of Unfair Payment-Processing Practices and Facilitation of Deceptive Tech-Support Schemes
FTC Provides Guidance on Updated Safeguards Rule
Phantom Debt Collectors to Face Permanent Ban as a Result of FTC Lawsuit
Evoke Wellness to Pay $1.9 Million to Settle FTC Claims That They Misled Consumers Seeking Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Evoke Wellness, LLC., FTC v.
In January 2025, the FTC sued Florida-based Evoke Wellness, LLC and Evoke Health Care Management and their officers Jonathan Mosley and James Hull for using a combination of deceptive Google search ads and telemarketing to masquerade as other substance use disorder treatment providers. The FTC announced the settlement of the case in June 2025, with the defendants being barred from the deceptive conduct and agreeing to pay a $1.9 million civil penalty.
FTC Announces Workshop on Exploring Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices in “Gender-Affirming Care” for Minors
USA Student Debt Relief, FTC v.
In July 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it stopped the operators of a scheme that it says tricked financially strapped consumers seeking student loan relief into paying hundreds of dollars in junk fees. The operators often targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico, pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education and its loan servicers, and made false promises of low, permanently fixed monthly payments and loan forgiveness.
A federal court temporarily halted the scheme and froze its assets at the request of the FTC.
In May 2025, the FTC announced that the operators of the scam have agreed to be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and to turn over their assets to resolve allegations that they misled consumers.
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