FTC Consumer Refunds Fall Again in 2022 to $393 Million

Consumer refunds from the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement actions against scams fell in 2022 to $393 million, marking another year of decline after a Supreme Court ruling that curtailed the agency’s ability to seek relief.

In comparison, the refunds from FTC actions totaled $472.4 million in 2021 and $483.1 million in 2020.

In a report released Tuesday, the FTC warned that refunds for future years will likely continue to wane due to the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling in AMG Capital Management v. FTC that said federal law doesn’t authorize the FTC to seek equitable monetary relief.

More than 90% of the $393 million of the 2022 refunds came from cases resolved before the Supreme Court ruling, the agency said.

In the four-year period before AMG, the agency returned more than $11 billion, it said.

“Refunds to consumers will likely continue to decrease in future years as the FTC completes distributing money obtained from pre-AMG enforcement actions,” FTC said.

More than 1.9 million consumers received FTC refund payments in 2022, according to the agency’s annual report released Tuesday.

The agency’s largest first payment distribution was $149 million sent to more than 200,000 consumers harmed by AdvoCare’s pyramid scheme. The Texas-based dietary supplement company deceived consumers into believing they could earn significant income as “distributors” of its health and wellness products, the agency said.

Other cases that resulted in sizable payments include $24 million paid out to consumers who paid fees for what the FTC said was fake sweepstakes promoted by Next-Gen Inc. FTC cases involving MOBE and LendingClub resulted in payments of $23 million and $10 million, respectively.

Along with civil penalty payouts, the FTC returned $10.4 million to the Treasury Department.