Credit: Sharaf Maksumov/Adobe Stock Publishers Clearing House Settles FTC's Claim of Misleading Consumers Through 'Dark Patterns'
The agency's $18.5 million settlement with PCH comes amid similar consumer-protection litigation against Amazon.
June 28, 2023 at 07:16 PM
6 minute read
Publishers Clearing House agreed this week to pay $18.5 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that alleged the company used "dark patterns" to lead consumers to believe through phrases and website designs that they had to buy magazine subscriptions to enter the PCH sweepstakes.
PCH used "deceptive and manipulative statements" and marketing tactics aimed at older and low-income consumers to get them to make unwanted purchases in hopes of a financial windfall later, the FTC claimed. The settlement, in which PCH admitted no wrongdoing, resolves the lawsuit the agency filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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