Penalty Amount
$225,000,000
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.
A $225 million judgment, nearly all of which will be paid as redress to IBOs recruited by WWG and LTD who lost money. The proposed order further requires: IBOs to resell at least 70% of products purchased from Amway each month; substantially reduced recruiter compensation when recruits buy products without reselling them; prompt reporting of all customer sales at actual prices with receipts sent to customers; termination of IBOs who fake sales or teach others to do so; regular independent outside audits of Amway's sales records; mandatory training for IBOs before they may recruit; and a prohibition on approved providers, including WWG and LTD, charging new IBOs for any training or services during their first year.
This is a consumer protection action targeting deceptive earnings claims and multilevel marketing practices rather than a data privacy matter, but it carries significant contract implications for any company operating direct selling, affiliate, or 'approved provider' networks. In-house teams should review approved provider, affiliate, and training-vendor agreements for clauses governing: representations about earnings or income potential and substantiation requirements; approval and content-control rights over third-party training materials and marketing; sales-reporting and record-keeping obligations paired with audit rights (the order mandates regular independent outside audits); compensation structures tied to verified retail resale rather than internal or recruit purchases; termination rights for participants who falsify sales or induce others to do so; and restrictions on fees that providers may charge new recruits. Recruit- and customer-facing terms should include clear income disclaimers, and indemnification provisions should ensure channel partners bear liability for their own deceptive representations and any resulting regulatory penalties.
Entity
Amway Corp.
Industry
RetailOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/09/ftc-takes-historic-action-against-multilevel-marketing-operator-amway-unfair-deceptive-business
Amway Complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Amway-Complaint.pdf
Amway StipulatedOrder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Amway-StipulatedOrder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Amway Corp., one of the largest multilevel marketing companies in the U.S., and two of its affiliates—World Wide Group, L.L.C. (WWG) and Leadership Team Development Inc. (LTD)—will pay $225 million"
"Proposed order will require Amway and two of its affiliates to pay $225 million, the largest monetary recovery ever collected from an MLM in an FTC action"
"imposes a $225 million judgment, nearly all of which will go to IBOs recruited by WWG and LTD who lost money."
"use unfair and deceptive tactics to recruit members to its direct selling and multilevel marketing opportunity"
"deceptive and unfair tactics, including misrepresentations about likely earnings, to incentivize and pressure IBOs to buy Amway products they don't want"
"Falsely telling IBOs that they are likely to earn substantial income, exceeding $40,000 a year"
$2.5B
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.
$100.0M
FleetCor Technologies Inc. (now Corpay Inc.) and its CEO Ronald Clarke agreed to pay $100 million to settle an FTC administrative action alleging the company charged small business customers hidden and unauthorized fees for fuel cards and misrepresented gas savings, fraud-control features, and fees. A federal district court granted the FTC summary judgment on all counts in 2023, and a federal appeals court upheld that judgment and the permanent injunction in 2026. The settlement funds will be used to provide redress to harmed business customers.
FTC staff published FAQs on price transparency to help the automobile industry comply with the FTC Act, reiterating that an advertised vehicle price must be the actual price any consumer can pay, excluding only government-required charges. The guidance follows warning letters the FTC sent to 97 auto dealership groups earlier in 2026 and signals continued litigation against dealers that advertise one price but charge more through undisclosed fees. No specific entity was charged and no penalty was imposed.
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.
$4.8M
The FTC charged Canada-based payment processor Nuvei Corporation and its subsidiaries with knowingly processing payments for fraudulent merchants, including more than $30 million in payments for the Reimage tech support scam from 2017 to 2023, as well as merchants making false earnings claims and impersonating government tax authorities. Under the stipulated order filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Nuvei will pay $4.85 million for consumer redress, is banned from serving tech support telemarketers, and must implement robust merchant screening and chargeback monitoring practices. Note: this is a payments-fraud facilitation action under the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule, not a data privacy violation.