Thu, 25 Sep 2025

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 Amazon agrees to pay $2.5bn over claims it tricked Prime customers

Roughly 35 million people in the US could be eligible for refunds, according to the government.

* Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5bn to settle claims that it tricked millions into enrolling as Prime members and made it difficult to cancel.
* $1.5bn will go towards refunds for customers who were duped into signing up for the service.
* The settlement marks a major victory for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), yielding the largest ever civil penalty secured by the agency.
* Amazon did not admit or deny the allegations, but said it had "always followed the law" and the settlement will allow the firm to "move forward".
* Hundreds of millions of people around the world subscribe to Prime, which offers free shipping, streaming movies, and other benefits for a fee.
* The FTC targeted Amazon practices such as: + Pop-ups during checkout that repeatedly suggested customers sign-up for Prime + Collecting billing information without fully disclosing terms or making it clear how to decline the service + One-month Prime trials that did not clearly state that customers would be automatically enrolled at the end of the month
* An estimated 35 million people in the US who were affected by these practices between June 2019 and June 2025 may be eligible for refunds.
* As part of the settlement, Amazon will no longer feature buttons saying "No, I don't want free shipping" and must create an easy way to cancel Prime.
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