Misrepresentations

December 7, 2016

The world’s largest dietary supplement retailer GNC Holdings Inc. agreed to pay $2.25 million and enter into a wide-ranging agreement with the Department of Justice to reform its practices related to potentially unlawful dietary ingredients and dietary supplements, and has further promised to embark on a series of voluntary initiatives designed to improve the quality and purity of dietary supplements.  DOJ

December 19, 2016

The CFPB filed federal lawsuits against four Virginia pawnbrokers for deceiving consumers about the actual annual costs of their loans. Spotsylvania Gold & Pawn, Inc., Fredericksburg Pawn, Inc., Pawn U.S.A., Inc., and A to Z Pawn, Inc. allegedly broke the law by misstating the charges associated with pawn loans. The CFPB seeks to end the pawnbrokers’ illegal practices, get restitution for the consumers they harmed, and impose penalties.  CFPB

December 12, 2016

The marketers of a mobile app designed to measure blood pressure have agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived consumers with claims that their Instant Blood Pressure app was as accurate as a traditional blood pressure cuff. In addition, the Commission alleged that the owner provided a positive review of the app, rating it “five stars” in the app stores, without disclosing his connection to the company. Under the terms of the FTC settlement, Aura Labs, Inc., doing business as AuraLife and AuraWare, and its founder and co-owner, Ryan Archdeacon, are barred from making such unsupported claims in the future and must disclose any material connections between Aura and people who endorse its products. FTC

November 15, 2016

Resolving a multistate investigation into a 2013 data breach that involved the personal information of more than 50,000 Massachusetts residents, software company Adobe Systems, Inc. (Adobe) has agreed to pay $1 million and implement new policies and practices to prevent future breaches. An investigation by the states revealed that in September 2013, Adobe received an alert that the hard drive for one of its application servers was nearing capacity. In responding to the alert, Adobe learned that an unauthorized attempt was being made to decrypt customer payment card numbers maintained on the server. The states allege that the nature of the attack was foreseeable and that contrary to Adobe’s representations to its customers, it did not take reasonable steps to protect consumers’ personal information, or to promptly detect the attack and prevent the theft of consumers’ data. The states allege that the data breach of certain Adobe servers included those containing the personal information of approximately 534,000 residents of the participating states, including approximately 53,000 Massachusetts residents. MA, OH, IL

November 14, 2016

At the request of the FTC, a U.S. district court judge issued a summary decision and $30 million judgment against the pitchman behind a product called Pure Green Coffee, who deceived consumers using false weight-loss claims, bogus testimonials, and fake news websites. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, ruled that Nicholas Scott Congleton deceptively marketed Pure Green Coffee for weight loss through NPB Advertising, Inc. and a web of other companies under his control. The court order permanently bars him from the deceptive advertising practices challenged by the Commission. FTC

November 3, 2016

The CFPB filed a federal lawsuit against B&B Pawnbrokers, Inc. for deceiving consumers about the actual annual cost of its loans. B&B Pawnbrokers allegedly broke the law by misstating the charges associated with pawn loans. The CFPB’s lawsuit seeks to end B&B Pawnbrokers' illegal practices, get restitution for the consumers it harmed, and impose penalties.  CFPB

September 29, 2016

The CFTC ordered Aden Rusfeldt (a/k/a “Big A”) of Vail, Arizona, to pay over $3.2 million in penalties and restitution for failing to disclose to prospective and current customers of his company, ETF Trend Trading, that he was prohibited by court order from engaging in any commodity-interest related activities.  CFTC

September 28, 2016

The CFTC filed a complaint against eFloorTrade, LLC and its majority owner and sole principal John Moore, charging them with record keeping and supervision failures and charging Moore with making false and misleading statements of material fact, or omitting material facts, in sworn testimony before the CFTC.  CFTC

September 27, 2016

The CFPB took action against online lender Flurish, Inc., doing business as LendUp, for failing to give consumers the opportunity to build credit and provide access to cheaper loans, as it claimed to consumers it would. The company has been ordered to provide more than 50,000 consumers with approximately $1.83 million in refunds and pay a civil penalty of $1.8 million.  CFPB

September 27, 2016

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement action against Kevin Michael Symons of Foothill Ranch, California, his wholly-owned company, FTS Financial, Inc. of Irvine, California, and Jerry Austin Simmons of Charlotte, North Carolina, charging them with the fraudulent promotion of Simmons’ “Real Time Trade Room," an online futures “trading” forum marketed by Defendants as a way to observe Simmons as he purported to trade futures contracts “live.” Additionally, the CFTC’s complaint charges Simmons with soliciting clients to open managed futures trading accounts without being registered with the CFTC as an Associated Person of a Commodity Trading Advisor.  CFTC