The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York today sued a company called Libre by Nexus, Inc. and its owners for a predatory immigrant-services scam that traps victims into paying expensive, long-term fees. The complaint alleges that Libre preys on immigrants, primarily Hispanics, who speak little or no English and are being held […]
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Consumer journalist David Lazarus of the LA Times has written We’re living in a golden age of scams as fraud reports surge amid pandemic. He notes that "[i]t’s been clear for months that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for scammers, con artists and assorted slimeballs looking to cash in on this most […]
Last week was a busy one for the Federal Trade Commission. Among other things: FTC Acts to Ban Payday Lender From Industry, Forgive Illegal Debt Four Defendants Settle with the FTC for Their Alleged Role in Credit Card Laundering Scheme FTC Sends More than $1.7 Million in Refunds to People who Lost […]
More consumers than ever report falling prey to romance scammers, according to new Federal Trade Commission data that show consumers reported losing a record $304 million to the scams last year. A newly released data spotlight shows that the amount consumers reported losing to romance scammers is up about 50 percent since 2019, and has increased […]
by Paul Alan Levy Our latest case about the right to speak anonymously is in federal court in Chicago, flowing from a dispute between a prominent vlogger named Cristina Villegas and a plastic surgeon named David Shifrin who, Villegas complained, “botched my nose job.” Villegas posted a 23-minute-long YouTube video which recounts the inadequacies that […]
Law profs Stephen Burbank and Sean Farhang have written Class Certification in the U.S. Courts of Appeals: A Longitudinal Study. Here is the abstract: There is a vast literature on the modern class action, but little of it is informed by systematic empirical data. Mindful both that there have been few Supreme Court class certification […]
by Paul Alan Levy Last month, a Fells Point restaurant was able to use an apparently baseless threat of defamation litigation to secure a vote renewing its liquor license by the liquor control board despite considerable neighborhood complaints. Baltimore attorney Scott Marder apparently a demand letter to every one of the 15 neighbors who objected, […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Both written and audio versions of the article are available. The article also reports on scam call centers overseas. I hope this is something the Biden administration moves on aggressively in its foreign policy.
On Wednesday, just hours after being sworn in, President Biden ordered the Education Department to extend the current COVID-19 suspension of all federal student loan payments and interest until at least October 1st. The CARES Act — Congress' third coronavirus relief bill, which passed in March 2020 — directed the Education Department to suspend payments, stop […]
by Paul Alan Levy In a decision issued his afternoon, Judge Barbara Rothstein has denied a motion by the infamous web site Parler seeking a preliminary injunction compelling Amazon to reverse its decision to terminate its hosting of Parler's web site. The judge agreed with Amazon that, under its hosting contract, Parler was subject to […]