Recent FTC settlements have put billions of dollars back on the table for consumers, with the largest being a $2.5 billion deal announced in September 2025 with Amazon over deceptive Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. Other significant actions since 2024 have targeted pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, single-family landlord Invitation Homes, the anonymous messaging app NGL, Credit Karma, and companies making false “Made in USA” claims. Several of these settlements are actively paying refunds in 2026, and a few still require eligible consumers to submit a claim.
Amazon Prime: $2.5 Billion Over Deceptive Sign-Ups and Cancellations
On September 25, 2025, the FTC announced a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company enrolled millions of consumers in Prime without clear consent and made canceling unreasonably difficult. The deal was announced three days into trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, and the stipulated final order was issued by Judge John H. Chun. Amazon settled without admitting wrongdoing.
The FTC originally sued Amazon in June 2023 under the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. According to the complaint, Amazon designed checkout pages so that options to buy without a Prime subscription were hard to find, and completion buttons did not clearly communicate that clicking them meant agreeing to a recurring $14.99-per-month charge. The complaint also described an intentionally convoluted cancellation process Amazon internally called the “Iliad Flow,” a four-page, six-click, 15-option sequence named after Homer’s epic about a decade-long siege.
The $2.5 billion splits into a $1 billion civil penalty, which the FTC says is the largest ever imposed for a violation of an FTC rule, and $1.5 billion in consumer refunds.
Who Gets an Amazon Prime Refund
To qualify, a consumer must be a U.S.-based Prime customer, must have signed up between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, through one of several “challenged enrollment flows” (including the Prime Video enrollment page, single-page checkout, and shipping selection page), and must have used relatively few Prime benefits after enrolling. Refunds are capped at $51 per person.
Amazon sent automatic payments to the most clearly affected group in November and December 2025. A second group, including people who tried unsuccessfully to cancel during the five-year window, began receiving claim notices by mail and email in January 2026. Those consumers have 180 days from receiving the notice to submit a claim form and can pick payment by check, PayPal, or Venmo. Claims-based payments are expected in late 2026.
Express Scripts: Rewriting How a PBM Prices Insulin
On February 4, 2026, the FTC announced a settlement with Express Scripts resolving allegations that the pharmacy benefit manager artificially inflated insulin prices through anticompetitive rebating. The FTC had filed an administrative complaint in September 2024 against all three major PBMs, and Express Scripts was the first to settle. The commission vote to accept the agreement was 1-0, with Commissioner Mark Meador recused.
The FTC alleged Express Scripts built a system in which insulin manufacturers competed for formulary placement based on the size of the rebate offered off the drug’s list price rather than the actual net price. Because patient copays were typically tied to list prices, patients bore the cost of the inflated pricing while Express Scripts kept a portion of the rebates.
What Changes for Patients
By January 1, 2028, or as soon as commercially feasible, the proposed consent order requires Express Scripts to:
- Anchor patient copays to the actual net cost of a drug after rebates, and pass rebate savings through at the pharmacy counter.
- Stop excluding or disfavoring lower-list-price versions of a drug when a manufacturer offers both a high- and low-list-price version.
- Delink its compensation from manufacturers from any drug’s list price.
- End spread pricing, so it cannot pocket the difference between what a plan sponsor pays and what it pays a pharmacy.
- Pay retail community pharmacies based on actual acquisition cost plus a dispensing fee.
- Provide drug-level cost reporting to plan sponsors, disclose payments to brokers, and comply with federal Transparency in Coverage regulations.
- Relocate its group purchasing organization, Ascent Health Services, from Switzerland to the United States. That operation handles roughly $750 billion in annual purchasing activity.
The settlement also requires Express Scripts to include access to TrumpRx, a government website launched in February 2026 that displays discounted cash prices for certain brand-name drugs using GoodRx technology, and to extend its Patient Assurance Program’s insulin benefits to all members unless a plan sponsor opts out. Payments made through TrumpRx by Express Scripts members would count toward insurance deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
The FTC projects the order will reduce patient out-of-pocket insulin costs by up to $7 billion over 10 years. An independent compliance monitor will oversee Express Scripts for three years, and the order runs for a decade if finalized. Companion cases continue: Caremark Rx was withdrawn from adjudication in early 2026 to allow consideration of a potential consent agreement, and the OptumRx administrative case remains active.
Invitation Homes: $47.2 Million to Renters Hit With Junk Fees
In March 2026, the FTC began distributing more than $47.2 million to 444,131 renters affected by deceptive practices at Invitation Homes, the country’s largest single-family home leasing company. As of December 2025, the company owned or managed more than 110,000 properties.
The FTC’s 2024 lawsuit alleged the company advertised one lease price and then tacked on undisclosed mandatory fees for services like smart home technology and utility management that could total $1,700 per year. The complaint also charged Invitation Homes with collecting more than $18 million in application fees for deceptively priced properties, failing to inspect homes before move-in, charging renters for pre-existing damage and normal wear-and-tear at move-out, and unfairly withholding security deposits.
Under the settlement, Invitation Homes surrendered $48 million for refunds and agreed to disclose leasing prices clearly, adopt fair security deposit return policies, and end the identified practices. Consumers who paid at least $45 in fees or charges between January 2021 and September 2024 received checks averaging about $106. The refund administrator is Rust Consulting, at 800-804-6915.
NGL Labs: $5 Million and a Claim Window Still Open
In July 2024, the FTC and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office reached a $5 million settlement with NGL Labs and co-founders Raj Vir and Joao Figueiredo over an anonymous messaging app the agency said was marketed to children and teens and exposed them to cyberbullying.
The FTC alleged NGL sent fake, computer-generated messages designed to look like they came from real people, then used bait-and-switch tactics to sell “NGL Pro” subscriptions costing up to $9.99 per week by falsely promising the paid tier would reveal senders. The agency also alleged NGL falsely claimed AI moderation filtered harmful content, failed to obtain parental consent for users under 13 as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and charged users without proper recurring-fee disclosures.
Of the $5 million, $4.5 million was set aside for consumer refunds and $500,000 went to the LA District Attorney as a civil penalty. The settlement permanently bans NGL and its founders from offering anonymous messaging apps to anyone under 18. In January 2026, the FTC opened a claims process for people who paid for NGL Pro between January 2022 and July 2024. Claims must be submitted at ftc.gov/NGL by April 6, 2026. The claims administrator can be reached at 800-351-7161.
Credit Karma: $3 Million Over “Pre-Approved” Offers
The FTC’s settlement with Credit Karma, finalized in January 2023, required the company to pay $3 million over marketing credit card offers as “pre-approved” when many consumers did not actually qualify. The FTC said Credit Karma used claims like “pre-approved” and “90% odds” while burying disclaimers in fine print. Between February 2018 and April 2021, roughly one-third of consumers who applied for these supposedly pre-approved offers were denied, in some cases hurting their credit through unnecessary hard inquiries.
In October 2024, the FTC distributed more than $2.3 million in refunds by check and PayPal to consumers who filed valid claims before the March 2024 deadline. As of April 2026, the agency is issuing Zelle payments to individuals who were eligible for that initial distribution but had not cashed their checks or accepted their PayPal payments. The refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, can be reached at 866-848-0871. Credit Karma said it “fundamentally disagrees” with the allegations and that the claims “relate solely to statements we ceased making years ago.”
“Made in USA” Enforcement Sweep
In April 2026, the FTC announced enforcement actions against companies that falsely claimed products were made in America, following a March 2026 executive order on truthful domestic-origin advertising.
TouchTunes Music Company agreed to pay $625,000 in consumer redress, which the FTC said is the largest settlement to date under the Made in USA Labeling Rule, over electronic dartboards labeled “Made in the USA” despite imported computer chips, cameras, and monitors. Americana Liberty and Three Nations agreed to pay $167,743 over patriotic flag display products imported from China and marketed as “All-American Made.” Oak Street Bootmakers agreed to pay $75,000 over footwear claimed to be “handcrafted 100%” domestically despite factories in the Dominican Republic and Brazil.
Mortgage Relief Scheme: $3 Million to 1,821 Homeowners
On June 9, 2026, the FTC announced it was distributing nearly $3 million in refunds to 1,821 homeowners deceived by a mortgage relief operation that ran under several names, including Golden Home Services, Home Matters USA, and Academy Home Services. The FTC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation had previously obtained a court ruling banning the operators from telemarketing and debt relief and ordering restitution. The refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, can be reached at 833-674-0067. Recipients have 90 days to cash their checks.
How To Claim a Refund and Avoid Impersonation Scams
When a settlement includes consumer redress, the FTC typically uses customer lists from the defendant or its Consumer Sentinel Network to identify affected people. Most cases do not require a claim, though some, such as the NGL and part of the Amazon settlement, do. The agency contracts with private administrators including Rust Consulting, JND Legal Administration, Analytics Consulting, Epiq Systems, and Simpluris. Payments go out by check, prepaid debit card, PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle, depending on the case.
The agency aims to distribute payments within six months of receiving the necessary data and funds. Leftover money can fund a second distribution; otherwise it goes to the U.S. Treasury. Over the past five years, the FTC says, more than 95 percent of collected settlement funds have been returned to consumers, with administrative costs like printing and mailing deducted from the pool. No money goes to FTC attorneys.
Scammers routinely impersonate FTC refund programs. The FTC will never ask you to pay a fee to receive a refund, request your Social Security or bank account number, or threaten you. Legitimate refund communications come from email addresses ending in “.gov.” You can check active programs at ftc.gov/refunds and report suspected fraud at reportfraud.ftc.gov.