Amazon agrees to pay a historic settlement of over 370 billion yen for deceiving users into signing up for Amazon Prime and making it difficult to cancel.
The FTC has finally settled the lawsuit, alleging that Amazon engaged in deceptive practices by tricking millions of consumers into signing up for
FTC Secures Historic $2.5 Billion Settlement Against Amazon | Federal Trade Commission
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-secures-historic-25-billion-settlement-against-amazon
FTC makes Amazon pay $2.5B for deceptive Prime signups
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/09/25/amazon-ordered-to-pay-out-15b-to-consumers-after-years-of-deceptive-prime-signups
In June 2023, Amazon was sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for intentionally deceiving millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime and making it difficult for them to cancel. The FTC accused Amazon and several of its executives of deliberately misleading millions of consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime in violation of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA).
FTC sues Amazon for using 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into signing up for Prime membership - GIGAZINE
Internal Amazon documents released before the trial revealed that the company's executives and employees were aware of the illegal sign-up and cancellation practices, and that they had internally made comments such as, 'Subscription promotion is a bit of a gray area,' and 'It's an unspoken cancer to lead consumers into subscriptions they don't want.'
The FTC has now announced that a settlement has been reached in this lawsuit, which requires Amazon to pay a $1 billion fine, refund $1.5 billion to the estimated 35 million consumers who were found to have mistakenly signed up for Amazon Prime, and end its practices of illegally encouraging consumers to sign up for paid services and making it difficult for them to cancel.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said, 'Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history, achieving a record-breaking victory for millions of Americans who felt they had to cancel their subscriptions, which they found nearly impossible. The evidence to date shows that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps to manipulate consumers into signing up for Amazon Prime, making it extremely difficult to cancel. Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into the hands of Americans and ensuring that Amazon never repeats this practice again. The Trump-Vance FTC is determined to stand up when companies try to defraud ordinary Americans of their hard-earned wages.'
The $1 billion settlement represents the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the FTC for violations of ROSCA, and the $1.5 billion in consumer refunds represents the second-largest FTC award in history.
Amazon has issued a statement regarding the settlement on its website.
Amazon's statement on FTC agreement over Prime membership
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-response-on-ftc-agreement
The statement simply said, 'Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for our customers. We are deeply committed to making it easy for customers to sign up for and cancel Amazon Prime membership, and we provide real value to millions of loyal Prime members around the world. We look forward to continuing to do so and providing great service to Prime members for years to come.'
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