FTC investigations are primarily triggered by allegations of unfair or deceptive trade practices, consumer complaints, competitor reports, and required premerger notifications. The agency acts based on evidence suggesting violations of antitrust laws, data misuse, or, in 2026, intensified scrutiny of digital advertising and AI-driven marketing.
When conducting investigations, the FTC uses several different types of investigative tools to gather information. These include interviews, target letters, civil investigative demands (CIDs), and administrative subpoenas—among others. However, the FTC is not able to use all of these tools in all circumstances.
Usually, it takes a few months for the FTC to review your production, digest it, and decide how to proceed. The FTC stated in its discussion of process reforms that it will communicate with targets every 6 months about the status of the investigation after they comply with the CID.
The FTC has the ability to implement trade regulation rules defining with specificity acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive and the Commission can publish reports and make legislative recommendations to Congress about issues affecting the economy.
Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more.
Deceptive practices include a wide range of behaviors, including forgery, credit card fraud, stealing money, writing bad checks, insurance fraud, abusing someone's property, or making false representations or statements.
Your report goes into the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database, which is available to federal, state, and local law enforcement across the country. The FTC uses reports like yours to investigate and bring cases against fraud, scams, and bad business practices. The FTC can't resolve reports on behalf of individuals.
5 Signs You Might Be Under Federal Investigation
The FTC says that complaints can help it and its law enforcement partners detect patterns of fraud and abuse, which may lead to investigations and stopping unfair business practices.
Three major categories of fraud, especially in business, are asset misappropriation, bribery and corruption, and financial statement fraud, but other common types for individuals include identity theft, credit card fraud, and investment scams, often involving first-party (consumer) or third-party (impersonation) tactics. Fraud types can also be categorized by the parties involved: first-party (you against a company), second-party (someone you know), and third-party (stranger impersonating someone else).
Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) (15 USC 45) prohibits ''unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. '' The prohibition applies to all persons engaged in commerce, including banks.
The FTC administers a wide variety of laws and regulations, including the Federal Trade Commission Act, Telemarketing Sale Rule, Identity Theft Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Clayton Act. In total, the Commission has enforcement or administrative responsibilities under more than 70 laws.
The FTC doesn't resolve individual complaints, but your report helps law enforcement detect patterns and might lead to an investigation. Tell your story at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
There are several common factors that may cause a case to fall under the jurisdiction of a federal court. Some examples of these include: Federal land or property involvement: Offenses in national forests, government buildings, or on military installations often fall under federal law.
The Freedom of Information Act allows any person—except fugitives, federal agencies, and foreign intelligence agencies—to request information about organizations, businesses, investigations, historical events, incidents, groups, or deceased persons.
If a crime is brought to the attention of federal authorities, whether by a victim of the crime or a witness to it (e.g., a bank robbery), a federal law enforcement agency will undertake an investigation to determine whether a federal offense was committed and, if so, who committed it.
They typically last weeks or months, and even years for the more complex and complicated cases. In fact, the investigations can last for the length of time of the statute of limitations. For most federal cases, the statute of limitations is five years.
How long does it take for the FTC to respond to a FOIA request? Our goal is to respond within the timeframe outlined in the Freedom of Information Act, which is twenty working days, or approximately one month, but this may vary with the complexity of the request.
On the consumer protection side, most cases involve alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices”. This covers a wide range of alleged misconduct—from false advertising and online scams to privacy violations.
Your Conduct Was Likely to Mislead or Deceive
The other party does not have to prove that your conduct led to their error. Instead, they need to show that your conduct was objectively misleading. A court would decide this by considering whether someone in the same situation would likely be misled.
Some examples of unfair or deceptive trade practices include:
The three key elements of a deceptive claim, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy, are: a representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer, and that the misleading element must be material (significant to a consumer's decision). This means there's something untrue or missing, a typical consumer would likely be fooled by it, and it matters enough to affect whether they buy the product or service.