FTC Begins Sending Refunds to Victims of Debt Collection Scheme

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is sending over $540,000 in refunds to consumers harmed by a debt collection scheme.

The refunds follow the FTC’s filing of lawsuits in September 2020 and reaching settlements in March 2021 and December 2021 with National Landmark Logistics and Absolute Financial Services, the regulator said in a Tuesday (Dec. 10) press release.

The companies operated under other names, including National Landmark Service of United Recovery, Silverlake Landmark Recovery Group, Absolute Financial Services Recovery, AFSR Global Logistics and Tri-Star, according to the release.

The FTC accused the firms of using illegal robocalls that threatened consumers with legal action for unpaid debts and falsely representing themselves as being from a mediation or law firm, the release said.

The regulator also alleged that, in many instances, the consumers did not owe the debt or the defendants had no legal right to collect it, per the release.

In the settlements, the defendants were permanently banned from the debt collection industry and were required to pay money to compensate the consumers, the release said.

The FTC is sending checks for $334.38 each to 1,625 consumers, according to the release.

The regulator said in June that its lawsuits resulted in over $324 million in refunds to consumers in 2023.

That total includes money returned to consumers as a result of all FTC cases, whether the refund program was administered by the FTC, other federal agencies or the defendants, according to the agency’s annual report on refunds.

The refunds announced Tuesday came on the heels of some other reports of the FTC sending refunds to consumers.

On Monday (Dec. 9), the regulator began sending over $72 million in refunds to consumers as part of a December 2022 settlement with Epic Games. That settlement resolved the FTC’s allegations that Epic Games tricked consumers into making unwanted purchases.

On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the FTC said it was sending almost $500,000 in payments to consumers alleged harmed by Vivint Smart Homes. In that case, the agency alleged that the home security company misused credit reports to get “unqualified customers” financing for Vivint’s products and services.