FTC Refunds from Three Different Settlements in the Mail

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The Federal Trade Commission recently announced distribution of FTC refunds from three different consumer rights enforcement actions.

One action has resulted in more than $437,000 in FTC refunds being returned to persons who were deceived into buying phony weight loss products.

According to the FTC, defendants Colby Fox, Christopher Reinhold and their companies Tachht Inc. and Teqqui LLC used spam emails to advertise Original Pure Forskolin and Original White Kidney Bean, both allegedly unproven weight loss products.

The emails were reportedly sent using hacked accounts, making them appear to come from people the recipients knew personally. The FTC says the emails contained fake celebrity endorsements and false claims about the products’ ability to promote weight loss.

These FTC refunds began to be mailed on March 15, according to the FTC’s announcement. Payments are being distributed by settlement administrator Rust Consulting. Inquiries about payments can be directed to Rust Consulting at 1-866-207-7028.

Another enforcement action has led to FTC refunds for thousands of taxpayers who were duped by an alleged tax relief scam run by a company called American Tax Relief. This action, originally filed by the FTC in 2010, accuses the company of taking advantage of financially distressed consumers by promising it could reduce their tax debts.

The court granted partial summary judgment against American Tax Relief in 2012, finding that the company had lied about its history of reducing tax debts for thousands of people. The court also found American Tax Relief falsely told people that they were qualified for certain tax relief programs.

This round of FTC refunds is the third and final round of payments in an action that so far has refunded more than $16.4 million to U.S. taxpayers, the FTC says. Defendants in this action have had to turn over millions of dollars in assets, including bank accounts, jewelry, a Ferrari, and two residential properties in Los Angeles.

On average, consumers who benefit from the American Tax Relief will receive FTC refunds worth about 16 percent of the amount of money they lost.

Settlement administrator Gilardi & Co. is distributing payments for the American Tax Relief refund. They can be reached at 1-877-430-3699.

In a third FTC enforcement action, victims of a tech support scam now have more than $10 million in FTC refunds on the way. Defendant Advanced Tech Support, which also did business under the name Inbound Call Experts, was accused of tricking consumers into purchasing tech support services by falsely claiming their computers were infected with viruses and malware.

The defendant allegedly used online ads and search results to lure consumers into contacting them. Then, through high-pressure sales tactics, they drove consumers to sign up for tech support services they didn’t actually need, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of dollars per victim.

FTC refunds from this settlement are being distributed by refund administrator Analytics. The average check amount is $277.44, the FTC says. Questions about these refunds should be directed to Analytics at 1-877-793-0908.

The FTC reminds consumers that it will never ask them to pay money before a refund check can be cashed. Check recipients are reminded to cash their checks within 60 days.

UPDATE: December 2018, the FTC is mailing an additional round of checks totaling more than $50,000 to consumers who purchased weight-loss products Original Pure Forskolin and Original White Kidney Bean from Tachht.