Category: Scams & Your Rights
-
Oracle starts paying its $115 million tracking settlement September 21, and the claim window closed in 2024
A federal privacy case that Oracle America spent nearly four years contesting is now moving into its payment phase. Settlement administrator Angeion Group has scheduled the release of funds from a $115 million pool beginning September 21, 2026, closing out litigation over how Oracle’s advertising business collected and sold personal data. The people who will…
-
The FTC says a car’s advertised price must be what anyone can walk in and pay
Federal regulators moved this month to spell out, in plain terms, what an advertised car price is supposed to mean. On September 15, 2026, staff at the Federal Trade Commission published a set of frequently asked questions telling the auto industry exactly which costs belong in the sticker price and which ones a dealer can…
-
The FTC is pushing withheld tips into Amazon Flex drivers’ bank accounts by Zelle
Amazon Flex drivers who never cashed a settlement check from a federal tip-withholding case are now getting that money a different way. The Federal Trade Commission has started depositing payments directly into recipients’ bank accounts through Zelle, closing out a refund program that began with paper checks in 2021. The change affects drivers whose tips…
-
Melissa and Doug offers $30 by check or $40 in store credit for a recalled fire truck toy
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted a new recall notice for Melissa & Doug, covering a battery-powered activity board sold only at Target, after the toy’s plastic hose connector was found to separate from its base and pose a choking hazard to young children. Roughly 84,000 units are covered, and the manufacturer has…
-
195,000 heated blankets are recalled for a full refund weeks before the heating season
About 195,000 heated blankets and heating pads sold under the JKMAX brand are being recalled after the manufacturer reported hundreds of units smoking, melting or burning. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the internal wire heating elements can overheat, and the fix on offer is not a repair or a coupon but a full…
-
The FTC says Amway recruits were told they could earn $40,000 a year and about 1 percent did
A joint enforcement action by the Federal Trade Commission and the Washington state attorney general has produced the largest monetary settlement the FTC says it has ever obtained against a multilevel marketing company. Amway Corp. and two of its recruiting affiliates would pay $225 million under a proposed federal court order, with nearly all of…
-
A subprime auto lender must erase $388 million owed by people whose cars were repossessed, by November 2
Forty state attorneys general have finalized a settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation, one of the nation’s largest subprime auto lenders, over allegations that the company financed car loans it predicted many borrowers could not repay. The agreement requires Credit Acceptance to deliver $388 million in debt relief to consumers whose vehicles were already repossessed and…
-
The federal consumer agency is holding a public session on Medicare open enrollment scams on September 29
The Federal Trade Commission has put a specific date on its next public warning about Medicare fraud. On September 29, the agency will host a one-hour virtual roundtable built entirely around the con artists who work the open enrollment calendar — the weeks before, during and after older adults and their families sort out next…
-
A private collection agency working for the IRS cannot put a lien on a house or touch a bank account
A caller who says an old tax bill has been handed to a collection agency is not automatically lying. The IRS really has contracted with a small number of outside firms to work certain overdue accounts, and one of them may be the voice on the other end of the line. What that caller cannot…
-
Nobody from the Federal Trade Commission or Amazon will ask for money to release a refund
A refund program touching millions of Amazon customers is entering a new phase, and fraud watchers expect the payout news itself to become the next scam script. On September 17, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission used its own announcement about expanded Amazon Prime settlement payments to add an unusual line: the agency does not contact…