Penalty Amount
$750,000
The FTC alleged that Vanilla Chip LLC (d/b/a TruHeight) deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without competent scientific evidence, and used fake employee-written and incentivized 5-star reviews. The proposed settlement requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000, bars false health claims, and prohibits misleading review practices. A $4 million total judgment is partially suspended due to the respondents' inability to pay the full amount.
TruHeight and its principals are ordered to pay $750,000, partially satisfying a $4 million judgment suspended due to inability to pay. They are permanently enjoined from making false or unsubstantiated height and growth claims, and banned from making any health benefit claims without competent and reliable scientific evidence. They are also prohibited from misrepresenting reviewer identity or experience, and from purchasing reviews conditioned on particular sentiment. The order is a consent decree issued by the FTC.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with marketing agencies, social media management firms, and review platform providers to prohibit incentivized reviews, fake testimonials, and automated bot-generated content. Customer-facing advertising contracts and terms of service should include warranties that all health-related claims are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence, and that all reviews are genuine and uncompensated. Employee agreements must explicitly ban staff from writing fake reviews of company products, and contracts with third-party review platforms should require full disclosure of any review incentives and prohibit sentiment-conditioned payments.
Entity
Vanilla Chip LLC
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/ftc-takes-action-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supposed-height-enhancing
TruHeight Complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/TruHeight-Complaint.pdf
2423093truheightdecisionandorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423093truheightdecisionandorder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight"
"requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000"
"violated the FTC Act and the agency’s Reviews and Testimonials Rule"
"April 13, 2026"
"Federal Trade Commission"
"Proposed settlement order"
$750K
The FTC finalized a settlement with Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals over allegations that they deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teenagers without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The FTC also alleged that TruHeight used fake social media bot profiles and relied on reviews written by employees, vendors, or consumers who received free products or discounts for 5-star reviews. Under the final order, TruHeight must pay $750,000 and is barred from making unsupported health claims or misrepresenting reviews.
The FTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on whether ad-optimization tools offered by online platforms may help scammers impersonate businesses and government agencies. This is a proposed regulatory inquiry, not an enforcement action against a named company; no penalty or remedy was imposed.
$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.
$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.
$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.