Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is launching a rulemaking to address false money-making claims made by marketers. Samuel Levine, the Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said, "Consumers, workers, and prospective entrepreneurs are being bombarded with so-called money-making opportunities that promise the world but leave them deeply in debt. The FTC will use every tool in its toolbox to deter this economic exploitation and compensate people who got conned.”
This announcement follows the FTC's action, last fall, when it sent Notices of Penalty Offenses to more than 1,100 businesses that advertise money-making opportunities, warning them that if they make deceptive earnings claims, they will be subject to civil penalties.
In the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FTC said that it is considering proposing a rule to address "deceptive or unfair marketing using earnings claims." Noting that it has brought numerous cases challenging misleading earnings claims, the FTC said that these cases establish that earning claims are material, that these claims are not puffery, that claims about earnings will usually imply that consumers will typically achieve those results, that claims about past results will likely communicate what consumers can expect to earn, and that earnings claims must be substantiated.
In discussing the need for a rule, the FTC said that, "Despite the Commission's aggressive enforcement program, deceptive earnings...
Pakistani actress and model Ayesha Omar has strongly denied a controversial statement falsely attributed to her on social media. In recent days, a statement circulated online claiming that the act...