Deceptive Practices

Deceptive practices are incidences of unfair or deceptive acts that are deliberately made against consumers by businesses. In commerce, sellers cannot omit, misrepresent, or make false statements that lead to a consumer decision that is injurious. Deceptive practices are formally defined in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) and administered and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTCA prohibits unfair and deceptive practices in, or affecting, commerce. The FTC is an independent federal agency and the only organization sanctioned to enforce the FTCA. It is empowered to act in the interest of consumers to protect them from commercial enterprises that mislead or affect their behavior or decisions about a product or service. It also has the authority to stipulate interpretive rules ...