FTC urged to act on Facebook ‘friendly fraud’ practices

Two Democratic US senators called for the Federal Trade Commission to act on a complaint filed by consumer groups against Facebook Inc on Thursday that alleged the company scammed children into spending money on its platform.

A coalition of consumer groups asked the FTC to investigate whether Facebook had engaged in deceptive practices, claiming the company lured children into making extensive in-game purchases without parental consent.

The social media company settled a class-action lawsuit on the issue in 2016, but further details came to light last month after a request by the Center for Investigative Reporting here resulted in the unsealing of the court documents.