FTC Secures $18.5 Million Settlement And Order In Another "Dark Patterns" Case

On the heels of its lawsuit against Amazon.com, the FTC filed a complaint yesterday against PCH, the marketer behind the venerable Publishers Clearinghouse organization. The complaint alleges that PCH used various deceptive tactics (so-called "dark patterns") to induce consumers to pay for magazine subscriptions and other merchandise, in violation of federal law. The bait in this long-running scheme was convincing consumers, many of whom are elderly, that they had to buy products to receive sweepstakes entries. It is a fundamental tenet of federal law (and many state laws) that one cannot condition sweepstakes entry on the need to pay any consideration. Doing so transforms the sweepstakes into an illegal lottery. It is not illegal to solicit a sale in connection with a sweepstakes, but it must be made clear to the consumer that there is a free and relatively easy-to-use alternative method of entry (AMOE).