ftc
Every record this desk has filed under ftc, newest first, each with the number of sources it can still show you.
FTC says it will start sending 2,124,796 PayPal payments October 27, totaling more than $15.8 million, to people who paid Cleo AI for eligible instant cash advances
The Federal Trade Commission announced October 8 that it is sending more than $15.8 million to people who paid Cleo AI for eligible instant cash advances. It plans payments to 2,124,796 customers. Eligible customers get an email by October 26, and PayPal payments begin October 27. The FTC says it never requires anyone to pay money or give account information to receive a payment.
Also filed underconsumer-protectionrefundscash-advancesscamspaypal
FTC and USDA open a joint inquiry into farm equipment manufacturing and distribution, inviting farmers and repair shops to submit evidence of restrictions and retaliation by December 7
The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a joint request for information on October 7, inviting farmers, independent repair providers, and current and former employees of agricultural equipment manufacturers and dealers to document restrictions and retaliation. The request, docket FTC-2026-1585, poses 13 numbered questions. Comments go through Regulations.gov and are due by December 7, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Also filed underagricultureantitrustright-to-repairusda
FTC says it is sending refund checks and PayPal payments to 6,205 GOAT customers who did not get a refund from the sneaker marketplace
The Federal Trade Commission said on October 6 it is sending 6,205 payments totaling more than $100,000 to people who paid online marketplace GOAT for expedited shipping between 2020 and 2024 and did not get a refund. The money comes from a 2024 settlement of FTC allegations that GOAT shipped some orders late without offering the required refund-or-cancel option and did not honor its 'Buyer Protection' promise. GOAT refunded more than $736,000 directly in 2025 under the same settlement.
Also filed underconsumer-protectionrefundsretaile-commercescams
FTC warns 24 healthcare companies that posting hospital prices does not settle their consumer-protection duties
The FTC says its chairman sent warning letters October 5 to 24 large healthcare-services companies. Its published template says prices must be timely, accurate and complete, even when a hospital follows Medicare price-transparency rules. The warning identifies missing fees and late disclosures as possible problems; it is not a finding that any recipient broke the law.
Also filed underhealthcarehospitalsprice-transparencyconsumer-protection
Proposed Premier Martial Arts settlements would pay $1.85 million and offer some franchisees an exit
The FTC announced proposed settlements October 5 with Premier Franchising Group and Franchise Fastlane over allegedly misleading franchise sales claims. The agreements call for $1.85 million in payments and a cancellation option for eligible franchisees. The cancellation period would run from the notice specified by the proposed order, not from the press-release date, and the orders require court approval.
Also filed underconsumer-protectionfranchisessmall-businesscivil-settlements
FTC, joined by Nevada and Utah, sues Lens.com, alleging hidden 'Taxes & fees' routinely doubled advertised contact lens prices
The FTC, joined by the states of Nevada and Utah, sued Lens.com Inc., Speed Commerce LLC and Cary Samourkachian, named as the sole owner of both, October 2 in Nevada federal court. The complaint alleges Lens.com advertised low per-box prices in Google ads and on its site, then added a hidden, mandatory 'Taxes & fees' charge at checkout; in one example the complaint cites, a $146.32 advertised order became a $649.71 charge. Lens.com's response is not in the documents reviewed.
Also filed underconsumer-protectioncontact-lensesdeceptive-pricinghidden-fees
FTC's call for comment on platform ad tools and impersonation scams is scheduled for Federal Register publication October 1, with comments due 60 days later; it has no draft rule.
The Federal Trade Commission's advance notice of proposed rulemaking on platforms and impersonation scams was filed September 30 for Federal Register public inspection and is scheduled to publish October 1. It asks the public whether to write rules for search engines, social media and other platforms whose ad-optimization tools it says further scams impersonating businesses and government agencies. It contains no rule text. Comments are due 60 days after publication, a date the printed notice will fix; file them at Regulations.gov.
Also filed underconsumer-protectionimpersonation-scamsonline-advertisingplatformsrulemakingfederal-register
Corteva agrees to end pesticide rebates the FTC and 12 states say kept cheaper generics off distributors' shelves: for 10 years no loyalty rebate may hinge on buying more than half of an off-patent ingredient from Corteva, where the complaint alleged one Corteva program required generally at least 85 percent, and the states get $35 million to spend as their attorneys general see fit, while the case against Syngenta goes on.
Corteva, Inc. has agreed to settle its part of the antitrust case the Federal Trade Commission and 12 states brought in 2022 over pesticide 'loyalty' rebates. Under a stipulated order filed September 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Corteva may not, for 10 years, run loyalty programs that condition payments or other benefits on a distributor buying more than 50 percent of its needs for an off-patent Corteva active ingredient from Corteva, or cap its generic purchases below 50 percent. The amended complaint alleged that one of the two Corteva programs it challenged set thresholds of generally at least 85 percent. Corteva will pay $35,000,000 to California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin; their attorneys general decide how to use it, and distribution to farmers is one of seven permitted uses. Corteva does not admit the allegations. The order takes effect when the judge signs it. The FTC's September 28 release says litigation against Syngenta remains ongoing.
Also filed underantitrustpesticidesagriculturecortevasyngentastate-attorneys-general
The FTC voted 2-0 to ask whether search engines, social media and other platforms whose ad tools optimize impersonation-scam ads should be held liable for furthering those scams, a narrower return of the 'means and instrumentalities' idea it set aside in December 2024; the 60-day comment clock has not started.
On September 24 the Federal Trade Commission announced a 2-0 vote to send the Federal Register an advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking whether search engines, social media and other digital marketplace platforms commit unfair or deceptive practices when their ad-optimization tools help scammers impersonate businesses and government agencies. The notice names Google.com, Facebook.com, Amazon.com, Apple App Store and LinkedIn.com as examples of such platforms. It floats requiring them to vet ads before posting, stop optimizing ads for impersonators, detect and investigate suspected impersonation ads, remove confirmed ones and discipline the advertiser, or offering those steps as a safe harbor instead. It returns, in narrower form, to a 'means and instrumentalities' provision the Commission set aside in December 2024. The FTC says it received more than 1 million imposter-scam reports in 2025, with nearly $3.5 billion in reported losses. Comments will be due 60 days after the notice appears in the Federal Register. As of September 27 it had not appeared, and the public-inspection lists posted September 24 and 25 did not include it. The notice contains no proposed rule text.
Also filed underconsumer-protectionimpersonation-scamsonline-advertisingplatformsrulemakingsection-230
Amway will pay $225 million, the largest amount the FTC has ever recovered from a multilevel marketing company. The complaint's key number is smaller: in 2023 the median Amway distributor's bonus was $139 before expenses.
The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Washington filed a complaint and a stipulated order against Amway and two of its largest training organisations, World Wide Group and Leadership Team Development, on September 17. The $225 million settlement is, in the FTC's words, the largest monetary recovery it has obtained against a multilevel marketing company. The complaint says recruits were told they could earn $40,000 a year and were pushed to buy products they were unlikely to resell. Figures in the complaint show that about 1 percent of more than 241,000 distributors made $40,000 or more in bonuses in 2023 and that the median bonus was $139. The order is not yet final: a federal judge in Seattle must sign it. The defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations. Redress details have not been announced, and no one needs to file anything yet.
Also filed underamwaymultilevel-marketingconsumer-protectionearnings-claimswashington
FleetCor, now Corpay, will pay $100 million over fuel-card fees its small-business customers never agreed to. The FTC first sued in 2019; a court found against the company in 2022, and an appeals court upheld that in January.
FleetCor Technologies, which now trades as Corpay, and its chief executive Ronald Clarke agreed to pay $100 million to settle the Federal Trade Commission's administrative case over unauthorized fees on its fuel cards, the FTC announced on September 17. The money is meant for refunds to the company's business customers. It is the money end of a case that is already largely decided: a federal court in Atlanta granted the FTC summary judgment on all five counts in August 2022 and imposed an injunction in June 2023, and the Eleventh Circuit upheld liability against the company in January 2026. The settlement is open for 30 days of public comment once it appears in the Federal Register. The company does not admit the allegations in the administrative complaint, and there is no refund process to apply to yet.
Also filed underfleetcorcorpaysmall-businessfeesconsumer-protectionenforcement
Amazon Prime refunds: a court raised the cap from $51 to $200, millions more people now qualify, and nobody has to file anything. Payments to the new group start October 1 and expire 60 days after they are issued.
A federal court this week approved a revised order in the FTC's 2025 Amazon Prime settlement, the FTC said on September 17. The most any eligible customer can receive rises from $51 to $200, every future payment is automatic, and people who used up to 20 Prime benefits in a year now qualify, where the first round covered those who used fewer than 10. Amazon, which runs the program, begins paying the newly eligible group on October 1 by Venmo, PayPal or mailed check. People already paid may get up to $149 more by April 2027 if not enough payments are accepted by February. More than $845 million has been paid so far. Payments expire 60 days after they are issued, and the FTC is not contacting anyone about these refunds.
Also filed underamazonprimerefundsconsumer-protectionsubscriptions
Beretta wanted up to 25% of Ruger and two seats on its board. The FTC says two seats between competitors is an illegal interlocking directorate, and took the seats away — with 30 days for the public to object.
On September 16 the Federal Trade Commission accepted a proposed consent order resolving antitrust concerns over a stock purchase agreement between Beretta Holding S.A. and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Under the deal Beretta would raise its stake to as much as 25 percent of Ruger's outstanding shares and appoint two members of Ruger's board — which the FTC alleges would create an illegal interlocking directorate under Section 8 of the Clayton Act. The order bars Beretta from causing anyone who is not independent of Beretta to join Ruger's board, requires 15 days' advance written notice before any such appointment, and bars Beretta from hiring or entering financial relationships with an independent director it nominated until a year after that director leaves. The Commission voted 2-0; the public has 30 days to comment.
Also filed underantitrustclayton-actinterlocking-directoratescomment-deadline
A payment processor will pay $12 million. The useful part is the four kinds of merchant it is now banned from touching.
The FTC filed today against 5967 Ventures LLC, trading as Humboldt Merchant Services, alleging it processed payments for more than 1,000 shell merchants fronting for companies running unauthorized billing scams — including Legion Media, which the FTC shut down in 2024. The settlement is $12 million and a permanent ban. The part worth reading is the banned-conduct list: four categories of merchant Humboldt may never process for again, which read together as a description of what a scam storefront looks like from inside a payments company. The complaint also puts a number on the tell — chargebacks at nearly ten times the rate card networks consider excessive — and names two evasion techniques by their industry terms. The order is stipulated and unsigned; the case is pending.
Also filed underpaymentsfraudconsumer-protectionenforcement
August 11 case round: nine receipts entered the record. None of them became a new fact today.
Nine official records Hugin already held now sit in the timelines they should have informed all along: five GAO receipts in the federal improper-payments file, and four CFPB, FTC, and Justice Department receipts in consumer protection. This is a chronology repair, not a claim that the underlying events happened today.
Also filed undercasespublic-recordsgaoimproper-paymentsconsumer-protectioncfpbdojsource-integritytimeline-repair
July 28: the map has to be visible before the argument starts.
Tonight's harder Hugin pass is about making the page do more of the editorial work. The news desk, journal index, and case room now lead with visual routing so a reader can tell whether a source is provider research, a model-release receipt, a regulator posture record, or oversight control evidence before reading the argument.
Also filed underdesigncasesaisecgaosource-mapvisual-organization
July 28 control room: AI work claims, model releases, and fraud controls need a visible map.
Hugin's late July 28 pass turns the daily desk into a source-lane map. OpenAI's Work at the Frontier research, Anthropic's Opus 5 release posture, FTC's AI-accuracy comment window, SEC's retail-fraud working group, and GAO's fraud-risk findings are useful together only when the reader can see which lane each record belongs to.
Also filed underaiopenaianthropicsecgaofraud-risksource-mapevidence-posturecontrol-room
A record appears here because it carries ftc in its own tags. If a record you expected is missing, it was filed under a different subject — the full list is on the topics index.