On September 25, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has secured “a historic order” with Amazon.com, Inc., as well as a Senior Vice President and Vice President, settling allegations that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent, and knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel.
As set forth in the announcement, Amazon will be required to pay a $1 billion civil penalty, provide $1.5 billion in refunds back to consumers harmed by their allegedly deceptive Prime enrollment practices, and cease purported unlawful enrollment and cancellation practices for Prime.
“Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” said FTC lawyer and Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription. Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again. The Trump-Vance FTC is committed to fighting back when companies try to cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay.”
As per the announcement, the FTC has charged Amazon and several Amazon executives with knowingly misleading millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime, violating the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (“ROSCA”). The FTC has alleged that Amazon created confusing and deceptive user interfaces to lead consumers to enroll in Prime without their knowledge. Consult with an experienced ecommerce lawyer about how to avoid regulatory scrutiny related to the utilization of subscription-based marketing models.
The FTC alleges that the alleged deceptive enrollment practices were compounded by Amazon also purported creating a complex and difficult process for consumers seeking to cancel their Prime subscription, with the alleged goal of preventing consumers from cancelling Prime.
According to the FTC, discovered documents showed that Amazon executives and employees knowingly discussed these alleged unlawful enrollment and cancellation issues, with comments like “subscription driving is a bit of a shady world” and leading consumers to unwanted subscriptions is “an unspoken cancer.”
Notably, the monetary judgment contained in the settlement is only the third ROSCA case in which the FTC has obtained a civil penalty. It includes:
- a $1 billion civil penalty, which is the largest ever in a case involving an alleged FTC rule violation;
- $1.5 billion in consumer redress, providing full relief for the estimated 35 million consumers impacted by alleged unwanted Prime enrollment or deferred cancellation. This is the second-highest restitution award ever obtained by FTC action.
Additionally, the settlement requires Amazon to stop their alleged unlawful practices and make changes to the Prime enrollment and cancellation flows by:
- including a “clear and conspicuous” button for customers to decline Prime. Amazon can no longer have a button that says, “No, I don’t want Free Shipping.”
- including “clear and conspicuous” disclosures about all material terms of Prime during the Prime enrollment process, such as the cost, the date and frequency of charges to consumers, whether the subscription auto-renews, and cancellation procedures.
- creating an easy way for consumers to cancel Prime, using the same method that consumers used to sign up. The process cannot be difficult, costly or time-consuming and must be available using the same method that consumers used to sign up; and
- paying for an independent, third-party supervisor to monitor Amazon’s compliance with the consumer redress distribution process.
The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 3-0. The FTC filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Contact a seasoned FTC defense lawyer or you or your company are interested in the design and implementation of preventative automatic renewal advertising, enrollment and cancellation compliance protocols.
