- The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) returned more than $1.1 million to consumers who were allegedly targeted by 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle LLC and related entities and individuals with a combination of illegal robocalls, live telephone calls, a variety of electronic media, and live events to sell programs that would lead to high income. In reality, consumers who signed up for the programs rarely earned substantial income, instead losing their entire investment and incurring loans and credit card debt.
- The FTC also returned more than $2 million to consumers who were allegedly targeted by funding company Seed Consulting, LLC and a related company and individuals (collectively “Seed Consulting”) with deceptive promises of financing for business training. Instead, Seed Consulting allegedly did not provide its own funding and charged thousands of dollars to open multiple credit card accounts for the consumer, then notified the training companies of the consumer’s new cards and credit limits. The complaint further alleged that Seed Consulting often inflated consumers’ income on the credit card applications.
- A unanimous Supreme Court decision in AMG Capital Management v. FTC held that existing laws do not allow the FTC to seek disgorgement in federal court going forward. In response, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act, R. 2668, giving the FTC an explicit authorization to seek monetary redress for consumers for harm caused by scams and antitrust violations. The bill was supported by a bipartisan group of 28 AGs.