In 2019, my colleague, Kevin Skrzysowski, wrote on this site about the risks of a consumer product class action settlement going viral.  At that time, he was describing how feeder websites, social media, and the internet were all contributing to increasing take rates.

Now, nearly four years later, there is a new insidious trend affecting consumer product class action settlements: fraudulent claims on a heretofore unseen level.  Following are three recent class action settlements that were impacted by fraudulent claims and describe one third-party administrator's prescription for remedying this risk.

Godiva

In January 2019, plaintiff Steve Hesse sued Godiva Chocolatier over its line of products bearing "Belgium 1926" on the label.  According to Hesse, that label was deceptive because Godiva Chocolates are not made in Belgium (the chocolate capital of the world); rather, they are made in Reading, Penn.