The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it is sending refund checks totaling more than $34 million to consumers who allegedly were tricked by Office Depot, Inc. and a software provider into buying computer repair products and services.
Office Depot paid $25 million while its software supplier, Support.com, Inc., paid $10 million as part of 2019 settlements with the FTC, according to a statement.
The FTC alleged that Office Depot and Support.com configured a virus scanning program to report that it found symptoms of malware or infections — even when that was not true — whenever consumers answered yes to at least one of four “diagnostic” questions.
The false scan results were then used to persuade consumers to purchase computer repair and technical services that could cost hundreds of dollars. The FTC is sending out 541,247 checks averaging $63.35 per check.
Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 60 days, as indicated on the check. The FTC never requires people to pay money or provide account information to cash a refund check. If recipients have questions about the refunds, they should contact the FTC’s refund administrator, Epiq, at 1-855-915-0916.
The FTC’s new interactive dashboards for refund data provide a state-by-state breakdown of the Office Depot refunds, as well as refund programs from other FTC cases.
In 2019, FTC actions led to more than $232 million in refunds to consumers across the country, according to the FTC statement.