Facebook, Inc., In the Matter of
The FTC alleged that Facebook violated its privacy promises to consumers and subsequently violated a 2012 Commission order.
<p>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. </p>
The FTC alleged that Facebook violated its privacy promises to consumers and subsequently violated a 2012 Commission order.
The FTC filed a lawsuit against the three largest prescription drug benefit managers (PBMs)—Caremark Rx, Express Scripts (ESI), and OptumRx—and their affiliated group purchasing organizations (GPOs) for engaging in anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices that have artificially inflated the list price of insulin drugs.
In January 2025, the FTC sent more than $49,000 in refunds to consumers who paid a sham mortgage relief operation that told financially distressed homeowners it would help get their mortgages modified, but instead effectively stole their mortgage payments.
In August 2021, the FTC and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office sued the co-founders of the Stem Cell Institute of America for marketing stem cell therapy to seniors nationwide using bogus claims that it is effective in treating arthritis, joint pain, and a range of other orthopedic ailments. In January 2025 the FTC and AG’s Office announce two court orders in their favor settling the complaint and barring the company from the allegedly illegal conduct.
The Federal Trade Commission announced that crude oil producers XCL Resources Holdings, LLC (XCL), Verdun Oil Company II LLC (Verdun), and EP Energy LLC (EP) will pay a record $5.6 million civil penalty to settle allegations they engaged in illegal pre-merger coordination, known as gun jumping, in violation of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR Act).
The Federal Trade Commission, along with the New York Attorney General, are taking action against gig economy company Handy Technologies for making a broad array of deceptive claims about how much money workers on its platform could earn.
The complaint charges that Handy, which currently does business as Angi Services, has peppered its advertisements with earnings claims that don’t reflect the reality for the overwhelming majority of workers on the platform. The complaint also charges that Handy has failed to clearly disclose fees and fines that have led to millions of dollars being withheld from workers.
Under the terms of a proposed settlement order, Handy would be required to turn over $2.95 million to be used to provide refunds to harmed workers, and make substantial changes to ensure that workers give clear consent to any fees charged by the company and that the company gives workers clear direction about how to avoid fines.
In July 2020, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in federal court against the California-based marketers and promoters of bogus treatments for serious medical conditions. The defendants are two corporations headquartered in Porterville, California, and two of their executives: Huu Tieu, president and CEO of both companies; and Stephen Meis, Medical Director and board member of Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical. The complaint alleged that defendants have promoted and sold a variety of products through "plans of care" ranging in price from $23,000 to $200,000, which falsely claim to treat or cure COVID-19, cancer, Parkinson's disease, etc. On June 14, 2021, the FTC announced a proposed order barring the defendants from making bogus health claims. In January 2024, the FTC announced the process defrauded consumers can use to seek refunds.
The Federal Trade Commission ordered building services contractor Planned Building Services and its affiliated companies to cease their enforcement of no-hire agreements that limit the ability of residential and commercial building owners from hiring building service workers employed by Planned.
In January 2025, the FTC announced a complaint and proposed order require software provider accessiBe to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it misrepresented the ability of its AI-powered web accessibility tool to make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for people with disabilities.
In a complaint issued in November 2024, the FTC charged that Sitejabber deceived consumers by misrepresenting that ratings and reviews it published came from customers who experienced the reviewed product or service, artificially inflating average ratings and review counts. Under a proposed order settling the agency’s complaint, Sitejabber will be prohibited from making such misrepresentations and from making other misrepresentations about consumer ratings or reviews. The Commission approved the consent as final in January 2025.
The Federal Trade Commission moved to block Tempur Sealy International, Inc.’s (Tempur Sealy) proposed $4 billion acquisition of Mattress Firm Group Inc. (Mattress Firm).
The Commission issued an administrative complaint and authorized a lawsuit in federal court to block the acquisition, alleging that Tempur Sealy—the world’s largest mattress supplier and manufacturer—will have the ability and incentive to suppress competition and raise prices for mattresses for millions of consumers once it acquires Mattress Firm.