Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Federal Trade Commission has sued online dating service Match Group, Inc. (Match), the owner of Match.com, Tinder, OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, and other dating sites, alleging that the company used fake love interest advertisements to trick hundreds of thousands of consumers into purchasing paid subscriptions on Match.com. The agency also alleges that Match has unfairly exposed consumers to the risk of fraud and engaged in other allegedly deceptive and unfair practices. For instance, the FTC alleges Match offered false promises of “guarantees,” failed to provide services to consumers who unsuccessfully disputed charges, and made it difficult for users to cancel their subscriptions.

In February 2017, the FTC and the Maine AG’s office announced a complaint and three settlements with dietary supplement marketers who allegedly used radio infomercials deceptively formatted as talk shows and print ads featuring fictitious endorsers to advertise supplements purporting to improve memory and to reduce back and joint pain. The settlement orders resolving charges against the named in the complaint bar them from making similar deceptive claims, and prohibit them from engaging in a wide range of marketing practices that have caused serious financial injury to consumers. In April 2015, the FTC sent refunds to consumers who bought one of the company deceptively marketed supplements, CogniPrin. In August 2019, the FTC send refunds to consumers who bought FlexiPrin, another supplement the company sold.

In July 2019, the FTC sent refunds totaling more than $708,000 to consumers and businesses that had been tricked into paying for unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies. The Commission’s February 2016 complaint alleged the Lighting X-Change defendants’ telemarketers failed to disclose to consumers that they were making a sales call, pretended they had a previous business relationship with the recipients, and falsely claimed that they wanted to send a free sample or catalog. Instead, they sent unordered light bulbs and cleaning supplies without disclosing the price up-front, and billed the recipients much more than market price for the products. A July 2017 order settling the charges banned the defendants from the illegal shipping and billing practices, and imposed a financial penalty that was used to provide the consumer refunds.

Payment processor Allied Wallet, its CEO and owner Ahmad ("Andy") Khawaja, and two other officers, Mohammad ("Moe") Diab and Amy Rountree, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they assisted numerous scams by knowingly processing fraudulent transactions to consumers' accounts.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending refund checks totaling more than $7 million to people deceived by the operators of an alleged business opportunity fraud that targeted seniors and others living on a fixed income. The refunds stem from a settlement the FTC reached in 2017 with Advertising Strategies, LLC, under which the defendants surrendered virtually all their assets to provide consumer refunds.

The FTC is mailing 104,612 checks totaling nearly $3.5 million to people who bought weight-loss supplements marketed by Maine-based sellers Direct Alternatives and Original Organics, LLC. Affected consumers will receive their refund checks, which average $33.12, within the next week. The FTC and the Maine AG’s Office obtained the money in the settlement of two related cases against these sellers and a marketing company that created and disseminated advertisements for Direct Alternative’s weight-loss products.

The FTC is mailing 227,995 checks totaling more than $6 million to consumers who purchased health products from three individuals and the 19 companies they controlled—collectively known as Tarr, Inc. Affected consumers will receive their refund checks, which average $26.57, soon.