Samuel Levine: Latest News

"extended vehicle warranty" telemarketing scam that targeted hundreds of thousands of consumers will face lifetime bans from working in the industry.The FTC initially charged Kole Consulting Group and its owner, Dan Kole, as some defendants involved with the American Vehicle Protection (AVP) operation in February 2022. The AVP telemarketing scam began in 2018 and fleeced consumers – including many on the FTC’s Do Not Call List – out of millions of dollars.

FILE - Close-up of Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition smart speaker, designed for use by children, with rainbow color scheme, using the Alexa voice assistant, on Aug. 31, 2019.

(Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Fashion Nova) LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles-based Fashion Nova will be required to pay $4.2 million to settle allegations it blocked negative reviews of its products from being posted to its website, the Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday.The FTC alleged the fast-fashion online retailer misrepresented that the reviews on its website reflected the views of all purchasers who submitted reviews, when in fact it suppressed reviews with ratings lower than four stars out of five.The FTC said it is the agency's first involving a company's efforts to conceal negative customer reviews."Deceptive review practices cheat consumers, undercut honest businesses and pollute online commerce," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "Fashion Nova is being held accountable for these practices, and other firms should take note."TRENDING NOW:The company said in a statement that the FTC’s allegations are "inaccurate and deceptive."Fashion Nova "never suppressed any website reviews, and it immediately and voluntarily addressed the website review issues when it became aware of them in 2019," according to the company.