Did you pay WealthPress for investment advice?
By
Gema de las Heras
Consumer Education Specialist
January 13, 2023
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Search online for “trading” or “investments” and you’ll be bombarded with offers, often from self-proclaimed experts, guaranteeing you’ll make big money fast. But no one can truthfully make those kinds of guarantees. That includes WealthPress, a company the FTC says violated the law by making false earnings claims to convince people to buy its financial trading services.
When somebody claims their service will “make you very wealthy very quickly” and “put you on the path to millionaire status, no matter your starting point today,” they’d better have proof. According to the FTC’s lawsuit, WealthPress told people they were likely to make substantial profits with its trading services, but couldn’t support that claim. Instead of making big money, the FTC says many WealthPress clients lost money trading, on top of the hundreds or thousands of dollars they paid for the so-called service and the recurring charges that followed.
To settle the FTC’s allegations, WealthPress has agreed to stop making deceptive or misleading claims about earnings. WealthPress will also pay more than $1.7 million to settle the case, with $1.2 million going back to the people affected. Stay tuned for more information on refunds.
Before you pay for any investment-related service, or ANY offer that includes claims about how much you’ll make, how fast:
- Know that no one can guarantee any return on investment in stocks, commodities, cryptocurrency, real estate or the foreign exchange market. Only scammers do that. So anyone who promotes riches and doesn’t mention the risks involved is a scammer.
- Research the offer. Search online for the name of the company and words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” Other people’s experience with the company can tip you off to possible problems.
- Question the statistics and testimonials…which can be faked. A company might show reviews from people who’ve used their program and “made lots of money.” But those could be paid actors or made-up reviews. Read more about How To Evaluate Online Reviews.
For more, read Real Estate and Investment Scams. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/01/did-you-pay-wealthpress-investment-advice?utm_source=govdelivery
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For Release
FTC Suit Requires Investment Advice Company WealthPress to Pay $1.7 Million for Deceiving Consumers
Case against company marks first civil penalties for violations of FTC’s Notice of Penalty Offenses on money-making opportunities, ROSCA
January 13, 2023
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As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, investment advice company WealthPress has agreed to a proposed court order that would require it to refund more than $1.2 million to consumers and pay a $500,000 civil penalty for deceiving consumers with outlandish and false claims about their services.
The case marks the first time that the FTC has collected civil penalties against a company that received the Notice of Penalty Offenses regarding money-making opportunities sent last October, and the first civil penalties for violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. (ROSCA)
“We’ve brought several cases this year against companies making false earnings claims, and we won’t hesitate to bring more,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “WealthPress is now paying the price for deceiving its customers and ignoring our Notice of Penalty Offenses on money-making claims.”
The FTC’s complaint against WealthPress and its owners, Roger Scott and Conor Lynch, alleges that the company used deceptive claims to sell consumers investment advising services—often claiming that the services’ recommendations were based on a specific “system” or “strategy” created by a purported expert. The company charged consumers hundreds or even thousands of dollars for access to these services.
WealthPress sold consumers on their services with false claims about the likelihood consumers would make money by following the recommended trades, when in many cases consumers lost substantial sums of money. One claim noted in the FTC’s complaint, from a promotional video:
- “I’ll show you how you can potentially make $24,840 dollars—or more—every single week. With quick simple … trades that require zero market knowledge or trading experience.”
Other video ads included Scott implying that profits from the service’s recommendations enabled him to buy a home in Beverly Hills next door to Julia Roberts and Eddie Van Halen, and charter private planes to take him on vacation. Another supposed “expert” claimed his system allowed him “to do whatever I want, whenever I want,” that it has “granted me ultimate freedom,” and he’ll never have to work again.
The complaint alleges that the company’s videos made it seem as though the supposed “experts” whose trading strategies were being sold to consumers had made numerous successful trades. In fact, the trades were often not real, hadn’t been made by the “expert,” and were never sent to consumers.
In addition, the complaint alleges that the company’s disclaimers were often so far removed from the claims the company was making as to be useless to a consumer. Indeed, so many consumers requested refunds or credit card chargebacks that WealthPress was put on a list of problematic merchants by Mastercard.
The FTC’s complaint alleges that by making these and numerous other deceptive claims to consumers, they were in violation of the Notice of Penalty Offenses, which specifically noted claims like these as having been found unlawful by the FTC in prior cases, as well as the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act and the FTC Act.
The defendants in the case have agreed to a proposed court order that would require them to:
- Surrender money: WealthPress, Scott and Lynch would turn over more than $1.2 million to the FTC for use in providing refunds to consumers harmed by their actions. In addition, WealthPress would pay a $500,000 civil penalty.
- Back up any earnings claims: The defendants would be prohibited from making any claim about earnings without the evidence to back those claims up in writing.
- Inform consumers about the case: The defendants would be required to give notice to consumers about the case, the court order, and what they should know before buying an investment-related service.
The Commission vote to authorize the staff to file the complaint and the proposed consent decree was 4-0. Commissioner Christine S. Wilson issued a statement. The FTC filed the complaint and proposed consent decree in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
NOTE: The Commission authorizes the filing of a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. Consent decrees have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
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Office of Public Affairs
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For Release
FTC Announces Tentative Agenda for January 19 Open Commission Meeting
January 12, 2023
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Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan announced that an open meeting of the Commission will be held virtually on Thursday, January 19, 2023. The open meeting will commence at 11am ET and will begin with time for members of the public to address the Commission.
The following items will be on the tentative agenda for the January 19 Commission meeting:
Business Before the Commission
Staff Presentation on Age-Related Fraud Reporting Trends: Staff in the Division of Consumer Response and Operations will present on the striking age-related differences seen in fraud reports from the public. The presentation will address differences in the reporting rates and reported individual loss amounts of younger and older adults, as well as differences in their likelihood of reporting various types of fraud.
Recognizing the Extraordinary Contributions of FTC Staff: The Chair will highlight a selection of individual award recipients honored during the FTC’s recent annual awards ceremony.
At the start of the meeting, Chair Khan will offer brief remarks and will then invite members of the public to share feedback on the Commission’s work generally and bring relevant matters to the Commission’s attention. Members of the public must sign up for an opportunity to address the Commission virtually at the January 19 meeting.
Each commenter will be given two minutes to share their comments. Those who cannot participate during the event may submit written comments or a link to a prerecorded video through a webform. Speaker registration and comment submission will be available through January 17 at 8 p.m. ET.
The FTC’s public meeting agendas will be posted on the Commission’s website at least seven days prior to the Commission’s next monthly meeting. A link to the event will be available on January 19, shortly before the meeting starts, via FTC.gov. The event will be recorded, and the webcast and any related comments will be available on the Commission’s website after the meeting. The Commission retains discretion to make public comments available following the event on ftc.gov.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and report scams, fraud, and bad business practices online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
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Media Contact
Office of Public Affairs
