FTC says operators of website jerk.com mislead and deceived consumers, takes legal action
WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission says the operators of a website called Jerk.com are the ones behaving badly.
The commission says the website harvested personal information from Facebook to create profiles labeling people a “Jerk” or “not a Jerk”. Consumers were then told they could pay $30 to revise the online profile but got nothing in return. The site also made consumers believe the content had been created by other users, not the company.
The FTC estimates Jerk LLC and John Fanning, who operated the site, created profiles for more than 73 million people between 2009 and 2013. Fanning and his attorney could not be reached for comment Monday.
The FTC is asking an administrative law court to halt the company’s actions and have it delete improperly obtained information.
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