Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
NutraClick, LLC, et al.
In September 2016, nutritional supplement marketer NutraClick agreed to settle FTC charges that it lured consumers with “free” samples of supplements and beauty products and then violated the law by charging them a recurring monthly fee without their consent. Four years later, in September 2020, the FTC filed a complaint alleging the company and its two principals were continuing to deceptively market their products, in violation of the FTC order. The settlement order, announced simultaneously with the complaint, bans the defendants from negative option marketing and requires them to pay more than $1 million for consumer redress.
Ponte Investments, LLC
A Rhode Island company and its owner will be permanently prohibited from misrepresenting they are affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of a settlement resolving Federal Trade Commission charges they misled consumers in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Ponte Investments, LLC, and its owner John C. Ponte were charged by the FTC in April 2020 with misleading small businesses to think they had an affiliation with the SBA and could offer companies access to the coronavirus relief programs administered by the agency.
Renaissance Health Publishing, LLC
A Florida-based company that has promoted its Isoprex supplement to older adults as a miracle cure for pain and joint inflammation has agreed to a settlement with the FTC that bars the company from continuing to make its unproven claims. In September 2020, the FTC announced it was sending refunds totaling more than $76,000 to consumers who bought the deceptively marketed product.
The Western Union Company
Approximately $147 million is being mailed to 33,000 consumers in the second distribution of refunds resulting from the law enforcement actions brought against Western Union by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Affected consumers are receiving compensation for 100 percent of their verified losses. This is the second refund distribution resulting from the agencies’ actions against Western Union. DOJ is still reviewing petitions from consumers who were harmed by Western Union’s practices, and will be providing opportunities for consumers who have not yet applied for refunds to file claims.
Statement of Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Concerning Premerger Notification Rulemaking Notices
Statement of Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips Concerning Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Premerger Notification Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Statement of Commissioner Rohit Chopra Regarding the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Premerger Notification Rulemaking Notices
GeerPres, Inc. (ADVANTAX microfiber mop pads)
Elanco Animal Health and Bayer
In July 2020, the FTC required global suppliers of animal products, Elanco Animal Health, Inc. and Bayer Animal Health GmbH, to divest three animal health products to settle charges that Elanco’s proposed $7.6 billion acquisition of Bayer would likely be anticompetitive in those markets. On Sept. 11, 2020, the Commission announced the final consent agreement in this matter.
OMICS Group Inc.
In April 2019, the FTC announced that a federal district court judge ordered Srinubabu Gedela and his companies to pay more than $50.1 million to resolve FTC charges that they made deceptive claims about the nature of their conferences and publications, and hid steep publication fees. The court ruling resolved a 2016 Commission complaint alleging that Gedela and the companies falsely advertised online scientific and medical academic journals and international conferences, and deceptively claimed the journals provided authors with rigorous peer review and editorial boards comprised of prominent academics.
Neurometrix, Inc.
Under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission announced in March 2020, the marketers of an electrical nerve stimulation device called Quell have agreed to pay $4 million and stop making deceptive claims that the device treats pain throughout the body when placed below the knee. They also will stop claiming the device’s efficacy is clinically proven and that it has been cleared by the FDA to treat pain throughout the body. In early September 2020, the FTC announced it was returning almost $3.9 million to defrauded consumers.
AbbVie Inc. and Allergan plc, In the Matter of
Pharmaceutical companies AbbVie Inc. and Allergan plc have agreed to divest assests to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that AbbVie's proposed $63 billion acquisition of Allergan would violate federal antitrust law. On Sept. 4, 2020, the Commission announced the final consent agreement in this matter.
Statement of Commissioner Rohit Chopra Regarding Dark Patterns in the Matter of Age of Learning, Inc.
Matherson Organics, LLC d/b/a Vitamin Bounty (Elderberry Immune Support dietary supplement)
Eldorado Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, In the Matter of
Casino operator Eldorado Resorts, Inc. has agreed to divest assets to settle charges that its $17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corporation likely would be anticompetitive in the South Lake Tahoe area of Nevada, the Bossier City-Shreveport area of Louisiana, and the Kansas City area of Kansas and Missouri. According to the complaint, the proposed acquisition would harm competition for casino services in these three local markets, increasing the likelihood that Eldorado would unilaterally exercise market power, which in turn would lead to higher prices and reduced quality. In August 2020, the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order resolving those charges.
Pointbreak Media, LLC
At the FTC’s request, in May 2019 a U.S. district court in Florida granted summary judgment against two individuals, approved six settlement agreements involving 11 defendants, and entered a default judgment against the remaining seven defendants, officially ending the massive Pointbreak Media robocall scheme. In August 2020, the FTC returned more than $70,000 to consumers defrauded through the scheme.