Published: January 2019
Protect consumers, not pyramid-scheme businesses
Consumer Action joined advocates in urging the co-sponsors of the 2018 Anti Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act to refrain from reintroducing the bill in the 116th Congress. If this bill were to become law, it would eliminate the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to take action against all but the most blatant pyramid schemes, leaving millions of consumers vulnerable to fraud.
Pyramid schemes do great financial and social harm, create hundreds of thousands of victims in the United States annually, and fraudulently obtain many millions of dollars. The Anti Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act of 2018 aimed to reverse decades of regulatory action and codifies permission for purchase and recruiting behaviors the courts have already identified as endemic to illegal pyramid schemes. Therefore, advocates are urging the co-sponsors of the bill to refrain from re-introducing it in the 116th Congress.
Lead Organization
National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)
Other Organizations
Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Consumer Reports | MANA, A National Latina Organization | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | National Consumers League | truthinadvertising.org | U.S. PIRG
More Information
For more information, please visit NCLC's website.
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Protect consumers, not pyramid-scheme businesses (NCL_et_al_Veasey-Hudson_letter_01232019_(FINAL).pdf)