Tag: Consumer Protection

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Amazon.com, Inc. for its years-long effort to enroll consumers into its Prime program without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime.

In a complaint filed today, the FTC charges that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime. Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.

Amazon also knowingly complicated the cancellation process for Prime subscribers who sought to end their membership. The primary purpose of its Prime cancellation process was not to enable subscribers to cancel, but to stop them. Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would’ve made it easier for users to cancel Prime because those changes adversely affected Amazon’s bottom line. 

In September 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Chegg Inc. will be required to pay $7.5 million to settle FTC allegations that the education technology provider made it extremely difficult for consumers to cancel recurring subscriptions while also failing to honor consumers’ cancellation requests. 

At the FTC’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted the operation of a sprawling business opportunity scheme that has taken in millions of dollars from consumers with bogus promises of huge returns. The scheme has operated since at least 2018 under several names, including “Blueprint to Wealth,” according to the FTC’s complaint. Three individuals and a company owned by one of them -- Business Revolution Group -- are charged in the complaint with operating the scheme. The defendants in the case agreed to settlements with the FTC that include monetary judgments, industry bans, and prohibitions on certain conduct. 

In September 2025, the FTC announced it was returning $666,631 to consumers defrauded by a sprawling business opportunity scheme.

In December 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it took action to stop a scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars out of consumers burdened with student loan debt by pretending to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education in violation of the FTC’s Impersonation Rule, collecting illegal advance fees, and making other deceptive claims.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada entered a temporary restraining order on November 22, 2024 and a preliminary injunction against corporate defendant Superior Servicing on December 6, 2024. 

The FTC filed an amended complaint adding corporate defendants Sunrise Solutions USA LLC, Alumni Advantage LLC, Student Processing Center Group LLC, SPCTWO LLC, Accredit LLC and individual defendants Eric Caldwell and David Hernandez.

In September 2025, the FTC announced that Caldwell and Hernandez will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and will be required to turn over their assets to resolve FTC charges that they helped operate an illegal student loan debt-relief operation. Additionally, Caldwell will be banned from the telemarketing industry, and Hernandez will be prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

In February 2026, a federal judge entered an order against Dennise Merdjanian, an operator of the scheme, that permanently banned her from the debt relief industry and telemarketing following a settlement with the FTC.

In June 2026, a federal judge entered a default order against corporate defendants Superior Servicing LLC, Sunrise Solutions USA LLC, Alumni Advantage LLC, Student Processing Center Group LLC, SPCTWO LLC and Accredit LLC. resolving litigation against the remaining defendants in the case.

In September 2025, the FTC announced that Whaleco, Inc., which operates the online marketplace Temu, will pay $2 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated the INFORM Consumers Act of 2023, by failing to provide consumers with required information and tools to help them avoid and report stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe goods while shopping online.