Penalty Amount
$2,500,000,000
A federal court approved a revised order in the FTC's Amazon Prime case under which Amazon will accelerate and expand redress payments under the September 2025 $2.5 billion settlement, which resolved allegations that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and knowingly made cancellation difficult. More consumers now qualify for refunds, the maximum payment cap rises from $51 to $200, and all future payments will be distributed automatically starting October 1, 2026, with potential supplemental $149 payments by April 2027. Amazon has already issued more than $845 million in redress payments as of September 2026.
Under the court-approved revised order, Amazon must expand the redress program so that millions of additional consumers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits during a one-year period receive automatic refunds starting October 1, 2026. The maximum payment cap increases from $51 to $200 total, and all payments are distributed automatically via Venmo, PayPal, or mailed check with no claims or paperwork required. If consumer-accepted payments do not reach the required threshold by February 2027, Amazon must provide additional automatic payments of $149 (for a total of $200) starting by April 2027. Amazon is responsible for administering the redress program under the underlying September 2025 settlement, which required up to $1.5 billion in consumer redress plus a $1 billion civil penalty.
In-house legal teams should review consumer-facing subscription terms of service, checkout and enrollment flows, and cancellation workflows to ensure clear-and-conspicuous disclosure of auto-renewal terms, affirmative informed consent to enrollment, and a cancellation process at least as easy as sign-up — the core failures the FTC alleged against Amazon Prime. Vendor and service-provider agreements should be checked for clauses governing redress or refund administration, consumer data sharing with third-party payment platforms (e.g., Venmo/PayPal) for automatic refund distribution, and cooperation obligations during FTC investigations or under consent orders. Marketing, affiliate, and partner agreements that drive subscription sign-ups should contain representations and warranties regarding lawful enrollment practices, prohibitions on dark patterns, and indemnification for deceptive conduct. Companies operating negative-option or auto-renewal programs should also confirm their contracts support retention of consent evidence and audit rights sufficient to defend enrollment practices in future redress or enforcement proceedings.
Entity
Amazon.com, Inc.
Industry
RetailOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/09/ftc-announces-additional-payments-consumers-stemming-ftcs-amazon-prime-settlement
2123050amazonprimeredressfundorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2123050amazonprimeredressfundorder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"a joint motion filed by the FTC and Amazon"
"$2.5 billion settlement"
"in addition to a $1 billion civil penalty"
"enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and knowingly made it difficult for consumers to cancel"
"Under the historic September 2025 settlement"
"September 17, 2026"
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.
$1.0B
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.
$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.
$225.0M
The FTC and the state of Washington filed a joint complaint and proposed stipulated order requiring Amway Corp. and two affiliates—World Wide Group, L.L.C. (WWG) and Leadership Team Development Inc. (LTD)—to pay a $225 million judgment, the largest monetary recovery ever obtained from an MLM in an FTC action, over allegations that they used deceptive earnings claims and unfair tactics to recruit Independent Business Owners. The complaint alleges the companies falsely promised substantial income and recruitment success, pressured IBOs to buy products they could not resell, and instructed IBOs to falsely report sales. Nearly all of the judgment will be used as redress for IBOs who lost money, and the proposed order imposes structural reforms including a 70% resale requirement, independent audits of sales records, and a ban on approved providers charging new IBOs for first-year training.