Search Results: Credit, Debit, or Prepaid Card

California DBO Settles with Point-of-Sale Lender Making Illegal Loans

​On January 16, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced it had reached a settlement with a point-of-sale lender​ to stop making illegal loans and refund $282,000 in fees it collected from almost 17,000 California consumers. In September 2019, the lender applied to the California DBO for a lender’s license.  Upon review of the lender’s product and information, the California…

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Court Halts Operations of VoIP Service Provider for Allegedly Helping to Promote Credit Card Interest Reduction Scheme

FTC

On December 5, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Texas has halted the operations of a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that allegedly played a key role in robocalling consumers to promote a credit card interest reduction scheme that bilked consumers out…

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FTC and Ohio Secure TRO Against Companies Concerning Alleged Telemarketing Scheme

On July 17, 2019, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (Ohio AG) announced that it and the FTC had secured a temporary restraining order from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas against two companies that allegedly defrauded consumers struggling with credit card debt out of millions of dollars. The complaint alleged that…

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CFPB Announces $11 Million Settlement with National Jewelry Retailer

On January 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)  and the State of New York announced that they had filed a consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.to settle allegations that a jewelry retailer enrolled customers in credit cards and related products without their consent….

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Florida AG and FTC Obtain $23 Million Judgment in Robocall Enforcement Action

On December 14, the Florida Attorney General (AG) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $23 million federal district court judgment against the owner of an Orlando-based “robocall” operation.  The massive robocall operation tricked consumers into paying upfront fees of $500 to $1500 for false credit card interest-rate-reduction and debt-elimination services,…

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Utah Bank Settles with U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

On September 28, 2017, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (USAO) announced it entered a $3.6 million settlement agreement with a Utah Bank and its affiliated payment processor to settle allegations that the bank and its processor committed fraud by illegally debiting money for specific telemarketing and Internet marketing merchants (Merchants). The USAO’s settlement is the…

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CFPB Files Complaints Against Credit Repair Companies for Charging Illegal Fees and Misleading Consumers

On June 27, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced​ that it filed two complaints and proposed final judgments against four California-based credit repair companies for misleading consumers and charging illegal fees. The CFPB alleged that the companies charged illegal advance fees for credit repair services and misrepresented their ability to repair…

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FTC and Florida AG Agree to Nearly $5 Million Settlement With Defendants Pitching "Worthless" Credit Card Interest Rate Reductions

FTC

On June 5, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal district court had entered its eighth order against the remaining defendants in an illegal robocall ring in which defendants promised to help consumers lower their credit card interest rates. The FTC, in conjunction with the Florida Office of the Attorney…

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CFPB's Monthly Complaint Report Spotlights Debt Collection Issues, Trends in Credit Card Complaints

On March 28, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released Volume 21 of its Monthly Complaint Report (the “Report”).  The purpose of the Report is, in part, to educate consumers and financial institutions on major consumer issues—which it does by providing a high-level analysis of trends in consumer complaints, focusing on one or two…

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FTC Issues Order Against Debt Relief Company for Alleged Misrepresentations

On February 27, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a stipulated order for permanent injunction and monetary judgment with defendants United Debt Counselors, LLC, a debt relief company, and its principals, banning the defendants from making misrepresentations about financial products and services and requiring the defendants to pay a $9…

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North Carolina Attorney General Secures Over $35 Million In Settlement With Debt Relief Providers

On March 9, 2017, the North Carolina Attorney General (“AG”) announced that it had settled a lawsuit filed in the Wake County, North Carolina Superior Court against three debt relief companies and two individuals.  As a result of the settlement, the court entered an order banning the companies and individuals from advertising or providing debt relief…

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National Debt Relief Provider Reaches $9 Million Settlement with FTC for Deceptive Solicitations

On March 7, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a stipulated order prohibiting a national debt relief provider from making misleading claims about its debt relief services. The court also entered a $9 million judgment against the defendants, with all but…

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CFPB Orders Prepaid Card Service Provider and Processor to Pay $13 Million

On February 1, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a settlement with a credit card service provider and a credit card provider over a disruption of service for prepaid credit card consumers. According to the CFPB, the credit card provider marketed its prepaid credit card to consumers nationally as a way to get…

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FTC and Florida AG Announce Settlements in Alleged Fraudulent Debt Relief Scheme

FTC

On November 30, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Florida Attorney General (AG) announced several settlements totaling approximately $27 million in an alleged fraudulent credit card debt reduction scheme.  In a set of stipulated orders, all but one defendant agreed to monetary judgments, as well as bans on future telemarketing, selling debt relief services, and credit…

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Q2 2016 Sees Increased Personal and Student Lending Enforcement (Interactive Charts Inside)

For the second quarter of 2016, Consumer Enforcement Watch tracked 46 enforcement actions taken against consumer finance providers. This represents a slight decrease from the 50 enforcement actions that were tracked last quarter, and a decrease from the 56 actions that we tracked in the second quarter of 2015. Approximately two-thirds of…

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CFPB Assesses Largest Fine in Agency's History Against National Bank for Opening Accounts Without Consumers' Consent

On September 8, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that, pursuant to a Consent Order, a national bank agreed to make full restitution to consumers and pay the CFPB a $100 million fine because many of its employees allegedly engaged in an illegal practice of opening unauthorized deposit and credit…

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