Penalty Amount
$1,000,000,000
Consumers Affected
35,000,000
The FTC secured a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon, including a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in consumer refunds, for enrolling millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without proper consent and designing a deliberately difficult cancellation process. The order requires Amazon to implement clear enrollment disclosures, an easy cancellation method, and cease the unlawful practices.
Amazon must pay a $1 billion civil penalty and provide $1.5 billion in refunds to approximately 35 million affected consumers. The company is permanently enjoined from using deceptive Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. Specific requirements include providing a clear button to decline Prime, disclosing all material terms (cost, billing frequency, auto-renewal, cancellation), creating an easy cancellation process using the same method as sign-up, and paying for an independent third-party supervisor to monitor the consumer redress distribution.
Entity
Amazon.com, Inc.
Also known as: Amazon
Industry
TechnologyOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-secures-historic-25-billion-settlement-against-amazon
Amazon ROSCA Order Filed 0
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Amazon-ROSCA-Order-Filed_0.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined the FTC and 22 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Amazon for manipulating the auctions used to set advertising prices, replacing actual auction results with higher prices since 2019 and overcharging nearly 1.2 million U.S. advertising customers. The FTC estimates total improper surcharges from 2018 to 2026 exceed $20 billion, with costs ultimately passed to shoppers through higher prices. The states seek a permanent injunction and monetary relief; no penalty has been imposed yet as this is a newly filed complaint.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Amazon.com, Inc. on August 31, 2026, alleging Amazon deceived advertisers by claiming to run second-price auctions while secretly applying hidden surcharges and undisclosed 'soft reserve' prices that pushed winners' costs up by roughly 17% on ordinary days and more than 25% during peak events like Prime Day. The hidden surcharges generated roughly $4.5 billion in additional nationwide revenue in 2024, and more than 18,000 Texas sellers and vendors advertise on the platform. The State brings claims under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, an injunction against inaccurate auction descriptions, and per-auction pricing records for every Texas advertiser; the FTC and a coalition of other states filed a parallel federal action the same day.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by 21 other states and the FTC, sued Amazon for secretly overcharging its advertising customers more than $20 billion by submitting fake second-place bids to inflate ad auction prices since 2018. More than 1.2 million advertisers, including hundreds of thousands of small businesses, were allegedly overcharged. The coalition seeks a court order stopping the scheme plus penalties, restitution, and damages.
$25.0M
The FTC and DOJ charged Amazon with violating COPPA by indefinitely retaining children's Alexa voice recordings and failing to honor parents' deletion requests. Under a proposed consent decree, Amazon must pay $25 million, delete children's data, and implement privacy safeguards.
The FTC rescinded its 2021 Policy Statement on Breaches by Health Apps and Other Connected Devices, which had purported to apply the Health Breach Notification Rule to health apps and connected devices that collect consumer health information. The rescission follows the Commission's 2024 update to the Health Breach Notification Rule, which already covers health apps and connected devices like fitness trackers, and implements an executive order directing agencies to eliminate obsolete guidance documents. No company was charged or penalized; this is a deregulatory action.
$12.0M
The FTC alleged that payment processor Humboldt Merchant Services knowingly processed payments for more than 1,000 shell merchant entities serving as fronts for fraudulent companies engaged in unauthorized billing scams, despite red flags including chargeback rates nearly 10 times higher than card-brand thresholds. Under the proposed stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Humboldt will pay $12 million for consumer redress and is permanently banned from processing payments for merchants with a heightened risk of potential fraud.