Consumer protection

• The Federal Trade Commission and 10 states are suing sham charity Cancer Recovery Foundation International, also known as Women’s Cancer Fund, and its operator, Gregory B. Anderson, for deceiving generous donors who sought to offer financial support to women battling cancer and their families.
• In a complaint filed in federal court, the FTC and states allege that, from 2017 to 2022, Women’s Cancer Fund collected more than $18 million from donors.
• The sham charity claimed that it would use the donated funds to help women who were undergoing treatment for cancer and their families pay for basic needs.
• Meanwhile Women’s Cancer Fund gave the vast majority of the funds it collected from donors, about 85%, to for-profit fundraisers that Anderson hired to make deceptive pitches on behalf of the sham charity.

• According to the complaint, in addition to using deceptive phone solicitation pitches, Women’s Cancer Fund also used deceptive solicitation letters, often signed by Anderson.
• The complaint in the latest action alleges that those enforcement actions did not deter Anderson, who went on to hire other fundraisers to make similar deceptive claims on behalf of Women’s Cancer Fund.
• The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
• The staff attorneys on this matter are J. Ronald Brooke, Jr. and Miry Kim of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

• The companies have agreed to settle the FTC’s charges against them: Biz2Credit will pay $33 million and Womply will pay $26 million to the FTC for small businesses harmed by their deceptive conduct.
• “The FTC is committed to protecting small businesses from these sorts of unlawful practices.”

Biz2Credit

• Biz2Credit, Inc., and its subsidiary, Itria Ventures, have agreed to pay $33 million in damages to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceptively advertised that consumers’ emergency PPP loan applications would be processed in an average of 10-14 business days when, in reality, the average processing took well over a month.
• When the program ran out of funds in May 2021, the government stopped accepting new PPP loan applications, leaving some Biz2Credit consumers without any funds.
• The FTC’s complaint also says that Biz2Credit unfairly ignored many consumers’ repeated and urgent pleas to withdraw their loan applications.

Womply

• The FTC’s complaint alleges they widely advertised that small businesses – particularly one-person businesses like gig workers – could successfully get PPP funding when they applied through Womply.
• The complaint charges, however, that more than 60 percent of Womply applications never resulted in funding.
• In addition, according to the complaint, Womply and Scammell advertised that their automated processes and good customer service would help small businesses secure PPP loans fast.
• However, after just one month and more than 4,800 support requests from applicants, Womply completely deactivated its phone-based customer service.
• After spending weeks pleading to Womply for help without success, she had to close her business due to a lack of funding.

• The Federal Trade Commission released its Privacy and Data Security Update for 2023 that highlights the FTC’s work to protect consumer privacy and respond to the evolving ways that companies use consumer data such as in the development of artificial intelligence models and misuse of health data.
• Between 2021 and 2023, the FTC has taken action to address privacy and security threats in several key areas including:

• The FTC also has remained active in targeting companies that fail to implement reasonable data security measures to protect consumer data.
• In 2022 and 2023 alone, the FTC announced or finalized enforcement actions against Global Tel*Link, Drizly, Chegg, and CafePress for data security failures.
• In addition to vigorous enforcement, the FTC has engaged in rulemaking and other policy work to establish baseline standards that protect consumers’ privacy.

• CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Eric Buchanan & Associates is thrilled to announce the promotion of Audrey C. Dolmovich to the position of Junior Partner.
• Her first, and most important job, is handling her client's cases extremely well, a job at which she excels," says Eric Buchanan, President and Partner of Eric Buchanan & Associates.
• Eric Buchanan & Associates is confident that Audrey C. Dolmovich's promotion to Junior Partner will further enhance our firm's reputation for excellence and dedication to our clients.
• We look forward to continued success and growth with Audrey as an integral part of our leadership team.