Bob Robinson, LLC
Also known as: Work At Home EDU, Work At Home Program, Work At Home Ecademy, Work At Home University, Work At Home Revenue, Work at Home Institute.
The FTC alleged that Bob Robinson, LLC and related defendants sold an online work-at-home system under six brand names, promising hundreds of dollars an hour without special skills. The operators were banned from selling business opportunities.
Resolved. Refunded, settled, ceased operating, or the claim did not hold up. Kept for the record.
Identity
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- Registrations
- FTC v. Bob Robinson, LLC, et al. (FTC case 162-3195, 2017)
- Jurisdictions
- United States (federal)
Six brand names, one pitch
Bobby J. Robinson, Michael Sirois and their companies Bob Robinson LLC, Mega Export 2005 Inc., Mega Export USA Inc. and Netcore Solutions LLC sold an online work-at-home system under six names: Work At Home EDU, Work At Home Program, Work At Home Ecademy, Work At Home University, Work At Home Revenue and Work at Home Institute.
The routine claim was that people could earn “hundreds of dollars per hour from home, without any special skills or experience.”
The advertising method is part of the case
The defendants used online native advertising, promotional content styled to resemble the editorial material next to it. The FTC’s example is a link to the Work At Home EDU site placed beside an article about working from home on Forbes.com. The pitch reached people at the moment they were researching work-at-home opportunities, dressed as something other than an advertisement.
They were charged under the FTC Act and the Business Opportunity Rule, which requires sellers to hand over specified disclosures and forbids earnings claims without adequate substantiation. A seller making an earnings claim must state how many other buyers actually achieved it.
The order and the refunds
A federal court in the Southern District of Texas entered a temporary restraining order in August 2017. The December 2017 settlement bans the defendants from selling business opportunities and business coaching services outright, and bars misrepresenting any material fact about any product or service. It imposed a partially suspended judgment of $35.1 million and required the defendants to turn over funds and assets worth approximately $1.5 million.
In April 2019 the FTC mailed 87,256 checks totaling nearly $1.1 million.
What is not established
The settlement resolves the allegations without any admission or finding of wrongdoing.
Sources
Every claim above rests on one of these. Open them and check.
- Enforcement action August 17, 2017
- Enforcement action December 14, 2017
- Enforcement action April 16, 2019
- Enforcement action April 16, 2019
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First recorded August 17, 2017 · Last updated April 16, 2019