WealthPress, Inc.

The FTC alleged that WealthPress sold trading advice on claims of up to $24,840 a week from trades requiring zero experience, where the experts trades were often not real. It paid $1.2 million in refunds and a $500,000 civil penalty.

Resolved. Refunded, settled, ceased operating, or the claim did not hold up. Kept for the record.

Trades that were never made

WealthPress sold investment advising services, charging hundreds or thousands of dollars for access, on the claim that its recommendations came from a specific “system” or “strategy” created by an expert.

One promotional video said: “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.”

Owner Roger Scott appeared in video advertisements implying the profits let him buy a home in Beverly Hills next door to Julia Roberts and Eddie Van Halen and charter private planes. Another supposed expert said his system had “granted me ultimate freedom” and that he would never have to work again.

According to the complaint, the videos made it appear that these experts had made numerous successful trades. In fact the trades were often not real, had not been made by the “expert”, and were never sent to consumers. Many customers lost substantial sums following the recommendations.

The disclaimers were often placed so far from the claims as to be useless. So many customers demanded refunds or filed chargebacks that Mastercard placed WealthPress on a list of problematic merchants.

Why this case was a first, twice over

WealthPress had received the FTC’s Notice of Penalty Offenses on money-making opportunities, sent the previous October, which lists exactly these kinds of claims as already found unlawful. This was the first time the FTC collected civil penalties from a company that had received that notice, and the first civil penalties for violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

The order

WealthPress, Scott and Lynch turn over more than $1.2 million for refunds, and WealthPress pays a $500,000 civil penalty. They may make no earnings claim without written evidence to support it, and must notify consumers about the case, the order, and what to know before buying an investment-related service.

In April 2023 the FTC returned $1.2 million to consumers.

What is not established

A consent decree resolves the allegations without any admission or finding of wrongdoing.

Sources

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