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Upromise, a service that helps its members save money for college by putting rebates into their accounts when they buy from partner merchants, has agreed to settle FTC charges that it deceptively collected members’ personal information. According to the FTC’s complaint, when people downloaded Upromise’s "TurboSaver Toolbar" to highlight partner merchants in their search results, they were encouraged to enable a "Personalized Offers" feature. Upromise claimed it would collect information about the websites people visited, but the FTC alleges the feature enabled the Toolbar to collect and transmit — unencrypted — the names of websites people visited, and the links they clicked on, as well as search terms, user names, passwords, and in some cases, credit card and Social Security numbers.
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In a settlement with the FTC, CVS Caremark Corporation will pay $5 million to settle charges that it misrepresented the prices of certain Medicare Part D prescription drugs — including drugs to treat symptoms accompanying advanced breast cancer and epilepsy — at CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. In some cases, the actual prices were as much as 10 times more than posted prices. As a result, many seniors and disabled consumers paid a lot more for drugs and found themselves pushed into the “donut hole” of Part D coverage — the gap where drug costs are not reimbursed — sooner than they expected. The $5 million will be used to pay back affected Part D participants.
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A payment processing operation that tried to debit millions of dollars from people’s bank accounts without their permission has settled FTC charges. Under the settlement, Landmark Clearing, Inc., and principals Larry Wubbena and Eric Loehr, are banned from using “remotely created payment orders” — a way to process electronic payments that the defendants used to give merchants access to people’s bank accounts. According to the FTC, in many cases the people whose accounts were debited had never heard of Landmark or its clients, and some merchants had as many as 80 percent of their debits rejected by people and their banks. As a result of the debits, many people faced overdraft and bounced check fees after the money disappeared from their accounts.
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An Illinois-based telemarketing firm that specializes in calling people on behalf of major banks, credit card companies, and insurance companies, as well as companies selling household and beauty products, will pay $500,000 to settle FTC charges that it interfered with people’s do not call requests and used misleading names on caller ID. According to the FTC's complaint, Americall Group, Inc., trained representatives not to honor requests like “Don’t call again,” when they should have added the people to the client’s do not call list. In addition, in many cases, caller ID information didn’t name Americall or its client, and instead, showed "Gas Rebate Center,” and other misleading names, the FTC alleges.
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Under an FTC order, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., will divest three drugs used to treat skin ailments to move ahead with its acquisition of Ortho Dermatologics, Inc. and Dermik Laboratories, Inc. According to the FTC, the divestitures would preserve competition for drug products that treat acne, fine line wrinkles, and actinic keratosis, a pre-cancerous skin lesion.
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"When it comes to the Do Not Call provisions, compliance is not rocket science. It includes honoring a consumer's request to be placed on a specific do not call list, and not messing with anyone's caller ID. Legitimate companies comply with the law every day."
— David Vladeck, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
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Marketers who made phony claims about the so-called “Hydro-Assist Fuel Cell” — including that it could turn water into "water gas" with five times the potential energy of gasoline, boost gas mileage by at least 50 percent and "turn any vehicle into a hybrid" — have been stopped, thanks to a settlement with the FTC. The settlement bans the marketers from selling fuel economy products.
National Consumer Protection Week 2012 is coming up March 4-10. Check the updated NCPW website to find the latest info to help you manage your money, learn about credit and debt, avoid fraud and scams, and more.
Phoenix-based Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc., an operation that — according to the FTC —marketed acai berry supplements, "colon cleansers," and other products with misleading free trial offers and phony endorsements from A-list celebrities will pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement with the FTC. The money will be used to provide refunds.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
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SHARE THIS:
- Did you get a new computer for the holidays? What will happen to your old one? Find out how to get rid of it safely: http://go.usa.gov/RA0
- At ftc.gov/videos, learn about ID theft, phony cancer cures, fake free trials, buying light bulbs, and more: http://go.usa.gov/RA8
- Is your number one of more than 200 million on the National Do Not Call Registry? http://go.usa.gov/RA9
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