The Federal Trade Commission is sending out a new wave of consumer refunds this month, with money going to hundreds of thousands of people affected by cases involving Grubhub, AT&T, Amazon Flex and other companies and business operations.
The largest of the new August programs involves Grubhub. The FTC is sending 640,038 payments totaling more than $23.8 million to eligible drivers and diners. The agency and Illinois Attorney General had accused Grubhub of practices including misleading drivers about potential earnings and preventing some diners from accessing accounts and redeeming gift cards. Recipients getting checks have 90 days to cash them, while PayPal payments must be accepted within 30 days.
Former AT&T customers are also receiving another chance to collect money from a settlement involving the company’s throttling of unlimited wireless data plans. The FTC previously returned more than $5.6 million to customers, and this month it is sending Zelle payments to eligible people who did not cash an earlier check or accept a PayPal payment. Eligible Amazon Flex drivers are similarly receiving Zelle payments after previous rounds returned more than $60.6 million in withheld tips to drivers. These new Amazon payments are going to eligible drivers who did not cash an earlier check.
Two additional August programs involve Helping America Group and Blueprint to Wealth. The FTC is sending 9,522 payments totaling more than $463,000 in the Helping America Group debt-relief case, while 2,005 payments totaling more than $333,000 are going to eligible consumers in the Blueprint to Wealth business-opportunity case. Both are additional rounds of refunds following earlier distributions.
How FTC Refunds Work
FTC refunds generally begin after the agency resolves a case involving a company or business accused of illegal practices and money is available to return to affected consumers. Depending on the case, eligible consumers may receive a check in the mail or instructions for accepting a digital payment, and some refunds are sent automatically using information already available to the FTC.
Consumers should pay close attention to the deadline included with their payment. Checks typically must be cashed within the period specified in the notice, while digital payments may have a shorter acceptance window. In several of the FTC’s current August refund programs, recipients have 90 days to cash checks and 30 days to accept certain electronic payments.
Watch Out for FTC Refund Scams
Consumers should be particularly cautious if someone contacts them claiming they must pay a fee or transfer money to receive an FTC refund. The FTC says it never requires consumers to pay money to get a refund. Some payments are being sent automatically by check, PayPal or Zelle, depending on the case. Anyone who believes they may qualify can check the FTC’s official active-refund program list for details rather than responding to an unsolicited message claiming to offer government money.
