Allied Interstate Inc., one of the nation's largest debt collectors, will pay $1.75 million to settle FTC charges that it tried to collect money from the wrong people and for the wrong amounts. According to the FTC, the company used abusive language, revealed debts to third parties without consent, and threatened legal action it did not intend to take – illegal tactics under the law. Allied Interstate is barred from such practices in the future and must investigate disputes about debts before trying to collect. To learn more about people's rights when facing debt collectors, check out our Debt Collection FAQ's.

Google Money Tree, an online marketer that falsely claimed ties to Google Inc., has been forced to stop operations and forfeit assets totaling more than $3.5 million. Using Google's name and logo – and falsely promising that people could earn $100,000 in six months – Google Money Tree lured consumers into paying a shipping fee for a work-at-home kit. According to the FTC, Google Money Tree failed to disclose a salient fact: buying the product would trigger automatic monthly charges of $72.21. Learn more about how to avoid work-at-home schemes and automatic debit scams.

Starting Oct. 27, debt relief providers who sell their services by phone are prohibited from charging upfront fees. The ban is part of an amendment to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that helps protect borrowers trying to repay their debts. Dishonest companies claim they can lower people's debt loads for pennies on the dollar, charge hundreds or thousands of dollars upfront, and then don't make good on their promises. During the last 10 years, the FTC and state attorneys general have brought more than 250 law enforcement actions to stop deceptive and abusive practices by debt relief providers. Read Settling Your Credit Card Debt to learn more.

Generic drugs save people money, lots of money. But sometimes a brand name drug company will pay a generic drug company to keep its product off the market. It's called pay-for-delay. Drug prices stay high, and both companies benefit from the monopoly. Consumers foot the bill. They miss out on generic prices that can be as much as 90 percent less than brand name prices. The FTC estimates that pay-for-delay agreements cost Americans $3.5 billion a year, which is why the FTC recently testified before Congress about putting an end to these sweetheart deals.