FTC Mailing $34M To Office Depot Customers

The FTC has started to send checks in the mail to consumers who were tricked by Office Depot into believing that they needed to pay hundreds of dollars for computer repair and technical services.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 541,247 checks totaling more than $34 million have been sent out to consumers. The average refund amount is $63.35.

The FTC took legal action against Office Depot and Support.com, arguing that the companies intentionally scammed consumers by developing a virus scanning program which would falsely report the presence of malware or viruses based on consumer responses.

Office Depot customers who used the PC Health Check Program were reportedly asked diagnostic questions about slow computer speeds, virus warnings, frequent crashes, pop up ads, and other problems.

If consumers answered “yes” to one of the program’s four diagnostics questions, they would reportedly be given false positive scan results – even if their “malware symptoms” were not connected to actual viruses.

As a result of these fake scans, consumers were allegedly persuaded to make hundreds of dollars in purchases of computer repair services.

The FTC claims that Office Depot and Support.com were aware of the complaints and had been aware since at least 2012.

The agency notes that one Office Max employee complained to management in 2012, criticizing the program as fraudulent. They said, “I cannot justify lying to a customer or being TRICKED into lying to them for our store to make a few extra dollars.”

The companies allegedly ignored these complaints and continued with their scheme through late 2016. According to the FTC, this scheme violated the FTC Act which prohibits deceptive practices.

In March 2019, Office Depot and Support.com Inc. agreed to pay a combined $35 million to the FTC to settle the allegations against them. Office Depot contributed $25 million while the tech support firm provided $10 million.

In addition to the monetary payments, the settlement prohibits any further scams by Office Depot and Support.com – including misrepresentations about the security and performance of a consumer device.

“Consumers have a hard enough time protecting their computers from malware, viruses, and other threats,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons at the time of the settlements. “This case should send a strong message to companies that they will face stiff consequences if they use deception to trick consumers into buying costly services they may not need.”

These settlements funded the $34 million in settlement checks which have been sent out by the FTC.

Consumers who received a check from the FTC are directed to cash it within 60 days. The agency notes that it will never require people to pay money or provide account information in order to cash their refund check.

Any additional questions about the FTC refund process can be directed to refund administrator Epiq Systems at 1-855-915-0916.

Were you duped by the alleged Office Depot scheme? Have you fallen victim to similar scams? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

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