Walmart pays $100 million in FTC settlement over delivery driver wages
Walmart will pay $100 million to resolve FTC claims that it misled delivery workers about pay and tips, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has transferred more than $10.9 million to consumers harmed by fraudulent credit repair operations.
The agency said in a March 17 news release that the program has multiple names and operates under Financial Education Services, United Wealth Education, United Credit Education Services, and the Youth Financial Literacy Foundation.
Michigan-based Financial Education Services is accused of luring and preying on consumers with low credit scores with false promises that their credit scores could be easily fixed, authorities announced, citing a 2022 lawsuit. Consumers were then recruited to participate in a pyramid scheme that sold credit repair services to others and charged millions of dollars in fees.
According to a news release issued in 2022, the company allegedly defrauded consumers of more than $213 million. The program has been in operation since at least 2015, the release states.
What was the plan?
The company claimed it could help consumers remove negative information from their credit reports and improve their credit scores by hundreds of points, according to the FTC. As a result, the company reportedly charged as much as $89 a month for the service.
The agency said these techniques were largely ineffective and often negatively impacted consumers’ credit scores.
“These defendants amassed millions of dollars in junk fees as part of a pyramid scheme selling bogus credit repair products,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said in 2022. “We are pleased that the court shut down this business and froze its assets. We will continue to pursue companies that prey on families’ financial pain.”
In 2024, the agency reached a settlement with the company’s owners Michael Troff, Parimal Naik, Christopher Troff, and Gerald Thompson, and its operators, requiring them to terminate the scheme and release funds to affected consumers.
how to get money
To resolve the issue, officials are sending checks to 443,048 affected customers. It is unclear how much each consumer should expect. According to a March 17 release, the agency is advising recipients to cash their checks within 90 days.
Consumers with questions about their payments should contact Refund Administrator Analytics at 833-699-7995 or by email at FES@refundadministrator.com or visit the FTC website for frequently asked questions about the refund process.
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Please contact mdelrey@usatoday.com.
