FTC v. Wise Media LLC

Citation
Federal Trade Commission v. Wise Media LLC, Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief, No. 1:13-cv-1234-WSD (N.D. Ga. Apr. 16, 2013) (full-text).

Overview
The FTC filed suit in April 2013 against merchant Wise Media, LLC, which purported to sell recurring subscriptions to text message services providing "love tips," horoscopes, diet tips, and similar kinds of "alerts" for $9.99 a month. The company claimed that consumers signed up for the services by entering their information into websites, receiving PIN codes by text messages, and inputting the PINs into the websites. Consumers who discovered the charges, however, widely reported that they had never heard of Wise Media or signed up for the services, suggesting they were simply billed without authorization.

Stipulated order
In November 2013, a court entered a stipulated order with a judgment for more than $10 million and a ban that prohibits Wise Media from placing charges on mobile phone bills altogether.