Match Group Reaches $14 Million FTC Settlement Over Deceptive Ads

Match Group has agreed to pay the U.S. Federal Trade Commission $14 million to resolve a 2019 lawsuit accusing the owner of Match.com, Tinder, OkCupid and other dating apps of deceptive marketing. The agency said the company lured consumers into subscriptions by sending messages it knew were likely from scam accounts and then made it difficult to cancel. Under the proposed order, Match must facilitate subscription cancellations, clearly spell out the terms of its six-month money-back guarantee and refrain from penalizing users who dispute charges. The FTC plans to distribute the settlement funds to affected customers once the court approves the deal. In a separate consumer-protection action, Walmart will pay $5.6 million to settle a civil complaint filed by four California counties alleging the retailer overcharged shoppers by selling items that weighed less than advertised or rang up at prices higher than the lowest posted amount. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said the violations broke California’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition laws and followed a 2012 case in which Walmart paid $2.1 million over similar conduct.