FTC sends third round of refunds to people who lost money to business coaching scam

One of our favorite things to do at the FTC — whenever possible — is to return money to people who lost it to scammers. That’s what we’re doing today. If you lost money to a business coaching scheme that did business as Coaching Department or Apply Knowledge, among other names, you should be getting a check in the mail soon.

According to the FTC, these companies made millions of dollars by falsely telling people they could earn thousands of dollars a month by paying for business coaching services and creating an online business. People spent thousands — and sometimes tens of thousands — of dollars on these coaching services before finding out they didn’t deliver on their promises.

This is the third check the FTC has been able to send to people who lost money to this business coaching scam and brings their total recovery to 48% of their losses. Previous checks were sent out in October 2019 and June 2020. The checks going out today total $25.6 million dollars and average $2,388.

If you paid money to these companies but didn’t get the earlier checks, reach out to the refund administrator Analytics LLC at 1-844-982-1005. To learn more about the FTC’s refund program, visit ftc.gov/refunds Remember that the FTC never requires people to pay money or give account information to cash a refund check. Spotted someone doing that? Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.