Care.com to refund $8.5M to customers for its ‘deceptive' practices, FTC says

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Care.com agreed to a proposed $8.5 million settlement to address what the FTC called ‘unlawful practices.’ The settlement was reached after allegations of misleading job seekers and job posters. The FTC stated that Care.com used false job numbers and baseless earnings claims to attract caregivers and employed deceptive design practices to trap consumers in subscriptions. The settlement requires Care.com to issue refunds to affected consumers, provide evidence for earnings claims, improve transparency on payment communication, and simplify subscription cancellations. Care.com disagreed with the claims, emphasizing their commitment to customer satisfaction. The FTC unanimously filed a complaint against Care.com, citing violations of the law and public interest.