A screenshot of one of the Experian emails exhibited in court documents. | Image: Federal Trade Commission
Credit reporting agency Experian must pay a $650,000 fine for violating spam laws. The US Justice Department and the FTC have announced a permanent injunction granted by the US District Court in central California, forbidding the company’s deceptive marketing email practices. The regulators’ complaint last week alleged that Experian had sent customers with free credit monitoring memberships deceptive marketing emails that lacked both “clear and conspicuous notice” of the ability to opt out and “a mechanism for doing so.”
The FTC says this violates the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM Act). The FTC referred the case to the DOJ to file the injunction before the court granted it, ordering…