Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, refunds are on the way for consumers affected by fraudulent business schemes, predatory lending and other legal issues.
Business coaching services FTC refunds
The FTC mailed an additional round of refund payments to consumers who were taken advantage of by deceptive telemarketing business coaching schemes operated under Learning Institute, Pinnacle Learning Institute, Advantage Education, Discover Education and other names.
According to the FTC, the business-coaching companies promised consumers they could create successful online businesses if they paid high upfront fees. In reality, consumers allegedly suffered steep financial losses after paying these fees.
In addition to being banned from further business coaching and work-from-home schemes, the companies paid $40.2 million to resolve the FTC’s charges. The FTC distributed $7.2 million in refunds in several rounds of refund checks in January 2018, December 2018, October 2021 and March 2023. Now, with remaining funds, the FTC sent over $116,000 in additional refunds to 3,022 consumers who previously cashed a check for this settlement.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these FTC refunds to Rust Consulting Inc. at 1-855-225-1885.
Mission Hills Federal debt relief refunds
The FTC mailed more than $4.1 million in refund checks to compensate thousands of consumers who lost money to a student loan debt-relief scheme that operated under numerous names, including Mission Hills Federal, Federal Direct Group, National Secure Processing and The Student Loan Group.
The FTC claimed the companies violated the law by charging upfront fees for student loan debt-relief services. Despite promising they could lower or wipe out student loan payments, the companies allegedly failed to pay down student loan balances and did not get those loans forgiven.
The companies agreed to pay more than $4.1 million to resolve the FTC lawsuit. The FTC sent refund payments to affected consumers using these funds.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these refunds to JND Legal Administration at 1-844-566-0108.
Harvest Moon lending FTC refunds
The FTC mailed a second round of payments from a settlement with payday lenders to consumers who were victims of predatory lending practices.
According to the FTC, the payday lenders promised borrowers their loans would be repaid after a fixed number of loan payments. Instead of applying these payments to loan balances, the lenders allegedly applied the payments to finance charges.
The lenders agreed to pay more than $970,000 to resolve the FTC lawsuit.
The commission returned over $691,000 in refunds to consumers in June 2022. With remaining funds, the FTC sent a second round of payments totaling more than $224,000 to 8,877 consumers who were overcharged at least $2,000 and who accepted their initial FTC refund.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these refunds to Epiq Systems at 1-855-662-0075.
Saint James School of Medicine refunds
The FTC sent a second round of refund payments to consumers who were enrolled in Saint James School of Medicine, a for-profit medical school, between 2016 and 2021.
The FTC claims Saint James lied to prospective students about their post-graduation standardized testing pass rates and residency program match rates. According to the FTC, these misrepresentations deceived students into enrolling in the medical school.
Saint James agreed to pay $830,000 to resolve the FTC lawsuit, which the commission used to distribute over $742,000 in refunds to consumers in November 2022. Now, with remaining settlement funds, the FTC sent more than $70,000 in refunds to 1,190 students who accepted their initial payments.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days. Consumers who receive a PayPal payment should accept it within 30 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these FTC refunds to JND Legal Administration at 1-877-917-0089.
The Bountiful Co. supplements refunds
The FTC sent more than $527,000 in refunds to thousands of consumers who purchased Nature’s Bounty and Sundown supplements from The Bountiful Co. on Amazon.
According to the FTC, The Bountiful Co. fraudulently boosted sales by manipulating product ratings and reviews on Amazon. These manipulations allegedly made the supplements appear to have more product ratings, higher reviews and “#1 Best Seller” or “Amazon’s Choice” badges.
The Bountiful Co. agreed to pay more than $527,000 to resolve the FTC allegations. The agency used these funds to provide refunds to 32,689 affected consumers.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these FTC refunds to Analytics Consulting LLC at 1-844-455-2768.
Benefytt Technologies refunds
The FTC returned nearly $100 million to consumers who paid Benefytt for sham health insurance plans that used names like MyBenefitsKeeper and AgileHealthInsurance.
The FTC claims Benefytt and its partners lied to consumers about their health insurance plans and used deceptive practices to overcharge consumers while leaving them unprotected. In addition, Benefytt allegedly charged consumers for unwanted and hard-to-cancel add-ons, such as life insurance and accident insurance.
Benefytt agreed to a settlement to resolve the FTC claims, providing compensation for refunds; the settlement also bans the company from lying about its products in the future. The FTC sent nearly $100 million in payments to 463,629 consumers to refund them for illegal junk fees and other financial damages.
Individuals who receive a refund check should cash it within 90 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these refunds to Epiq Systems at 1-888-574-3126.
DK Automation FTC refunds
The FTC returned more than $2.8 million to consumers who paid for online business opportunities from DK Automation, which sold programs under the names AMZDFY, Amazon Done For You and Amazon Done With You.
According to the FTC, DK and its owners made bogus income claims when it promised to create “turnkey” businesses for consumers to make extreme profits on Amazon and Walmart. Most people lost money through this scheme, the FTC claims.
DK Automation agreed to pay $2.8 million to resolve the FTC lawsuit and was required to stop making its deceptive claims. The FTC used the money to refund 890 customers for their losses related to the deceptive business scheme.
Consumers who receive a PayPal payment should accept it within 30 days.
Consumers can direct additional questions about these FTC refunds to Rust Consulting Inc. at 1-833-637-3833.
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