Press Releases

The Federal Trade Commission today released a survey showing that 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 percent of all American adults, were victims of identity theft in 2005. Of the victims, 3.2...

Operators who infected more than 15 million computers with destructive, intrusive spyware will give up $330,000 in ill-gotten gains from their venture to settle FTC charges that their scam violated...

Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved the issuance of a final consent order and letter to the one commenter of record in the matter...

An affiliate Webmaster who used the allure of “free” music downloads to spread malicious computer code is settling Federal Trade Commission charges he violated federal law. The defendant, who was paid...

Defendants involved with operations that secretly downloaded spyware that changed settings on consumers’ computers, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their practices violated...

Guidance Software Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its failure to take reasonable security measures to protect sensitive customer data contradicted security promises...

A U.S. district court has shut down an operation that secretly downloaded multiple malevolent software programs, including spyware, onto millions of computers without consumers’ consent, degrading...

Release of Commission report: The Commission, with the concurrence of the Acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, has authorized the release of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Report to...

Social networking Web site operators Xanga.com, Inc. and its principals, Marc Ginsburg and John Hiler, will pay a $1 million civil penalty for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy...

An operation that placed spyware on consumers’ computers in violation of federal laws will give up more than $2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. Under a stipulated final judgment...

Staff issues advisory opinion concerning Non-Profit Institutions Act: The staff of the Bureau of Competition has advised Alpena (Michigan) Public Schools that its proposed plan to have pharmaceuticals...

A title company that promised consumers it maintained "physical, electronic and procedural safeguards" to protect their confidential financial information, but tossed consumer home loan applications...

Flowers, candy – and a musical e-card from the Federal Trade Commission? This Mother’s Day give mom something she can really use: an e-card with tips from the FTC on keeping her personal information...

Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a final order in the matter concerning DSW Inc., and authorized the staff to respond to the...

In the largest known compromise of financial data to date, CardSystems Solutions, Inc. and its successor, Solidus Networks, Inc., doing business as Pay By Touch Solutions, have agreed to settle...

Consumer data broker ChoicePoint, Inc., which last year acknowledged that the personal financial records of more than 163,000 consumers in its database had been compromised, will pay $10 million in...

Commission approval of staff comments: The Commission has approved the filing of comments by the staffs of the Bureau of Competition, the Bureau of Economics, and the Office of Policy Planning with...

Shoe discounter DSW Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its failure to take reasonable security measures to protect sensitive customer data was an unfair practice that...

An operation that uses the lure of free lyric files, browser upgrades, and ring tones to download spyware and adware on consumers’ computers has been ordered to halt its illegal downloads by a U.S...

Superior Mortgage Corp., a lender with 40 branch offices in 10 states and multiple Web sites, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law by failing to provide...