Federal Trade Commission News

Washington State Sues to Block Kroger and Albertsons Proposed Merger

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued to block the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, two of the nation’s largest grocery chains. In the suit filed in King County Superior Court, Ferguson argued that the $25-billion deal would harm …

FTC Sues Intuit to Stop ‘Bait-and-Switch’ TurboTax Ads

The Federal Trade Commission is suing TurboTax maker Intuit, saying its ads for “free” tax filing misled consumers. Intuit says it will fight the suit. The consumer protection agency said Tuesday that millions of consumers cannot actually use the free …

New Jersey Urges Vigilance as Data Breaches, Online Threats Rise During Pandemic

As October’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is underway, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal warned residents of the state that data breaches, internet fraud and online threats are on the rise. With New Jersey residents facing a rise in …

Oregon Grocery Chain Sues Albertsons for $1B

The small Oregon-based grocery-store chain Haggen this week sued Albertsons for more than $1 billion in damages, alleging the supermarket giant engaged in systematic efforts to eliminate it as a viable competitor in five states. The lawsuit, filed in federal …

FTC Calls for Consumer Disclosure by Data Brokers

Companies known as data brokers collect and sell information about “nearly all” U.S. consumers, drawing potentially harmful conclusions about them largely without their knowledge, U.S. regulators said on Tuesday. The Federal Trade Commission called on Congress to pass legislation that …

Court Says FTC Can Sue Hotel Chain Over Data Breaches

A U.S. court ruled on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission can proceed with a lawsuit against hotel group Wyndham Worldwide Corp. for allegedly failing to safeguard consumers’ personal information. Wyndham had argued that the commission did not have jurisdiction …

Federal Trade Commission Moves Closer to ‘Patent Troll’ Study

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Friday took another step toward a comprehensive study of “patent trolls” – companies in the business of buying and asserting patents – to see if they are hurting competition with abusive litigation. FTC commissioners …

Top 10 Consumer Complaint Categories

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its top 10 consumer complaint categories for 2012. For the first time ever, the agency received more than two million complaints. Of the two million complaints, 18 percent were related to identity theft. …

1 in 20 Credit Reports Have Errors: FTC

One in 20 American consumers had mistakes on their credit reports that would have increased their interest rates on loans or caused them to pay more for insurance, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released on Monday. Experian, …

Businesses Call for Controls on Litigation Funding Firms

A business lobby group has called on the U.S. Congress to regulate companies that provide financing for commercial lawsuits, describing the practice as “coercive enterprise.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a long-time critic of third-party litigation …