FTC Asserts TSR Claims to Halt Sales of Deceptive E-Commerce Programs

The FTC asserted Telemarketing Sales Rule and Telemarketing Act claims Wednesday against Lurn, CEO Anik Singal and the creators of two of Lurn’s most popular programs to halt them from duping consumers into buying products and services that falsely claim they can earn substantial income online. The FTC estimates the defendants took about $65 million from consumers between 2019 and May 2022 by using deceptive earnings claims, said its complaint (docket 8:23-cv-02622) in U.S. District Court for Maryland in Baltimore. Since at least 2009, and continuing through the present day, the defendants “engaged in a scheme to sell e-commerce programs and related products and services,” said the complaint. They market their programs and related products and services to consumers around the U.S. through the internet, email, YouTube, social media and telemarketing, it said. They falsely represent that their e-commerce programs “are tested and profitable systems consumers can easily use to generate significant income,” it said.