Federal Trade Commission Distributes $5.4 Million to Victims of Online Trading Academy

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has distributed over $5.4 million to 31,144 buyers of the California-based investment training scheme Online Trading Academy (OTA).

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On 12 February 2020, the FTC charged that OTA used false or unfounded earnings claims to sell “training programs” costing as much as $50,000. OTA has collected more than $370 million from consumers nationwide within the last six years.  

Specifically, OTA misrepresents that it has a patented “strategy” that anyone can use to generate substantial income from trading in the financial markets. OTA claims that its strategy is designed to generate income in any market, “whether it’s going up, down or sideways”.

More than 31,000 consumers are receiving checks, averaging $175 each. Epiq, the redress administrator in this case, will mail checks today. Checks will expire in 90 days, as indicated on the check.

In addition to paying for monetary refunds to consumers, under the order settling the agency’s complaint, OTA forgave over $13.3 million in debt owed by consumers to OTA.