New York SBDC Research Network

From Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General’s Office have charged two New York-based operations and their principals with running a scheme to collect money from consumers on fake and unauthorized debts. This action is part of the FTC’s continuing crackdown on all players in the phantom debt chain, including those who sell fake debt portfolios and those who harass consumers to collect the phony debt. According to the FTC, debt broker Hylan Asset Management LLC and its owner, Andrew Shaevel, bought, placed for collection, and sold lists of phantom debts, including debts that were fabricated by the defendants or disputed by consumers. Hylan placed these phony debts for collection with several collection agencies, including Worldwide Processing Group LLC and its owner, Frank A. Ungaro, Jr., who collected on the fake debts and used illegal tactics to do so. The complaint alleges that Hylan was aware the debt was fabricated. Much of it w...

From FTC.gov The Federal Trade Commission has charged three individuals and nine businesses with bilking more than $125 million from thousands of consumers with a fraudulent business education program called MOBE (“My Online Business Education”). A federal court halted the scheme and froze the defendants’ assets at the FTC’s request. According to the FTC, the defendants behind this international operation target U.S. consumers—including service members, veterans, and older adults—through online ads, social media, direct mailers, and live events held throughout the country. This action follows the agency’s recent action against Digital Altitude, LLC, a competing business opportunity scheme that was also halted by court order. The FTC alleges that the defendants falsely claim that their business education program will enable people to start their own online businesses and earn substantial income. They claim to have a “proven” 21-step system for making substantial sums of money quick...

From the Federal Trade Commission : The Federal Trade Commission is launching a national education campaign to help small businesses strengthen their cyber defenses and protect sensitive data that they store. The FTC will develop and distribute reader-friendly educational materials with information about cybersecurity that small businesses need. The effort grew out of the Small Business & Cybersecurity Roundtables that the FTC hosted last year with small business owners and non-profit organizations, employees, and managers to learn about the challenges they face when dealing with cyber threats and security and ideas for how the government can help them. “Small businesses understand the importance of cybersecurity and the need to protect their networks and data, but many feel overwhelmed about how to address the myriad of cyber threats they face,” said Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our new campaign aims to help these small businesses w...

From the Federal Trade Commission Roundtable info The Federal Trade Commission announced that its  Economic Liberty Task Force will host a roundtable in Washington, DC on  July 27, 2017  to highlight approaches that make it easier for workers in state-licensed occupations to offer their services across state lines or move between states. Most occupational licenses are not portable, meaning that workers who move to a new state often face financial or administrative burdens of applying for a new license. Restrictions on the portability of occupational licenses are especially hard on military families, who move often. The  July 27  roundtable, which will take place from  2 p. m. to 4 p.m. , will be the first public event held by the FTC’s new  Economic Liberty Task Force . Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen established the Task Force earlier this year as her first major policy initiative for the agency. The Task Force is considering how occupationa...

The Federal Trade Commission is mailing checks to nearly 350,000 people who lost money running Herbalife businesses. The checks are the result of a July 2016 settlement with the FTC that required Herbalife to pay $200 million and fundamentally restructure its business. This represents one of the largest redress distributions the agency has made in any consumer protection action to date. “We are pleased to announce that hundreds of thousands of hard-working consumers victimized by Herbalife’s deceptive earnings claims will receive money back,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Along with changes the company will make to its business structure, this is a win for consumers.” The FTC used Herbalife’s records to determine who would receive a refund and the amount of each check. Generally, the FTC is providing partial refunds to people who ran an Herbalife business in the United States between 2009 and 2015, and who paid at least $1,000 to Herbal...

Federal Trade Commission staff is asking top Internet retailers to review their websites to ensure that they provide complete and accurate information about product warranties before consumers make their online purchases, as required by the FTC’s Pre-Sale Availability Rule. The Rule requires retailers to make warranties available at the time of purchase for all warranted consumer products that cost more than $15. However, a recent staff survey found several instances of Internet sellers offering warranted consumer electronics and appliances for sale without disclosing complete warranty information. “During the busy holiday shopping season, it’s especially important that consumers get the information they need to make informed buying decisions,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Internet sellers can help by making sure their websites are providing complete and accurate warranty information.” The letters also inform the Internet sellers tha...

The Federal Trade Commission has announced updated fees starting on October 1, 2013, for telemarketers accessing phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. All telemarketers calling consumers in the United States are required to download the numbers on the Do Not Call Registry to ensure they do not call those who have registered their phone numbers. The first five area codes are free, and organizations that are exempt from the Do Not Call rules, such as some charitable organizations, may obtain the entire list for free. Telemarketers must subscribe each year for access to the Registry numbers. The access fees for the Registry are being increased as required by the Do‑Not‑Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007. Under the Act’s provisions, in fiscal year 2014 (from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014), telemarketers will pay $59, an increase of $1, for access to Registry phone numbers in a single area code, up to a maximum charge of $16,228 for all area codes nationw...

With gas prices continuing to rise with no end in sight and unemployment rates slowly rising due to the worsening economy, now would be the perfect time to get a "work from home" job. Unfortunately, the majority of "work from home" jobs are scams to make money off of people who don't have the money to spare. To find legitimate "work from home" business opportunities that are available, you just need to know where to look. Here are a few of the sites that can help. - bbbonline.org – Click on "For Consumers" when you want to research a specific business opportunity. - WomenForHire.com - Offers resources and ideas on working from home. - FTC.gov - Type "work at home" in search box for good and bad business opportunities, as well as information on how find a legitimate business.

This is a 92-page PDF file recently released by the Federal Trade Commission. It provides all kinds of data for 2007, summarizing the 800,000+ complaints of consumer fraud and identity theft received by the FTC's complaint database (known as the "Consumer Sentinel"). I've often wondered what the Consumer Sentinel contains regarding specific companies. This database exists as a tool available only to law enforcement agencies across the U.S., for use in any investigations that they might be undertaking. Up until page 20, data is presented on a national level for a variety of categories (e.g., "Number of Internet-Related Fraud Complaints," "How Identity Theft Victims' Information Is Misused," etc.). The rest of the report focuses on complaint data broken down by state (New York is on page 53). I've blogged about this before, and, unfortunately, I'll feel compelled to blog about next year, too. Be careful out there.

An advisor at one of our regional centers asked me to share some information he learned while working with a client last week. During the course of the counseling session, the client revealed she had signed up with a credit counseling service, Clear Your Debt LLC, from Austin, TX. The advisor was concerned when he read the contract the client signed, which prompted him to investigate the company. The Better Business Bureau in Austin told the advisor they had received numerous complaints against Clear Your Debt LLC. Though Clear Your Debt promised financing, counseling and other assistance, the advisor’s conclusion - after reading their confusing contract and talking to the BBB - was that the client would pay $15,000 for basically nothing. At that point, the advisor encouraged the client to return the contract she signed and cancel the agreement (this was within 3 days of the client signing the agreement). The advisor called me and asked that I share the information with other SBDC advi...

When the Do Not Call registry opened registration to the American public in 2003, the majority of individuals rejoiced at the thought of no more telemarketer calls. According the FTC, "The registry was created to offer consumers a choice regarding telemarketing calls". Now, the list has started to expire since numbers are only on the list for five years from the date registered and not everyone who originally signed up is aware that they may be recieving unsolicited calls in the near future. For the article on the list expiring, go here . To re-register your number when it expires, go here . For more information from the Federal Trade Comission, go here . ---Alexis Mokler