FTC’s Consumer Relief Options Dwindle After Supreme Court Ruling

The FTC finds itself left with slower and less effective tools to recover money for people harmed by fraudsters after the U.S. Supreme Court slashed its ability to seek consumer redress through the courts.

The Supreme Court April 22 ruled that the Federal Trade Commission no longer can secure consumer redress in federal courts under the FTC Act’s Section 13(b). The statute, the justices said, only allows the FTC to secure injunctive relief to stop ongoing scams, not monetary relief for consumers that had already been harmed.

The unanimous opinion left the FTC with the power to secure redress through ...