Amazon is paying $2.25 million in civil penalties to resolve a Federal Trade Commission case tied to identity theft victims. The settlement centers on how the company handled requests for transaction records from people whose identities had been stolen, and the FTC says Amazon’s handling of those requests broke federal law.
According to Engadget, the FTC accused Amazon of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a law that gives identity theft victims the right to obtain records of fraudulent transactions made in their names. Amazon has not publicly commented on the settlement.
The case is a reminder that even the biggest players in retail are not above consumer protection rules, and regulators are watching how companies treat some of their most vulnerable customers.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, companies are required to hand over records of fraudulent transactions to identity theft victims within 30 days of a request. The FTC’s complaint laid out several ways Amazon allegedly fell short of that standard:
- Customer service representatives denied some requests, citing security or privacy concerns
- In other cases, Amazon agents reportedly told victims they could not access the records at all
- When Amazon did provide the information, it sometimes came after that 30-day deadline had passed
- Law enforcement agencies were also reportedly denied access to records in some instances
The Fair Credit Reporting Act has been on the books since 1970, but its protections for identity theft victims were strengthened significantly in 2003 with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. The rules exist because getting records of fraudulent transactions is often essential for victims trying to dispute charges, clear their credit, or help police investigate the crime. Delays or refusals can leave victims stuck for months trying to prove what happened.
For Amazon, a $2.25 million penalty is a small sum relative to the company’s scale. But the case carries weight beyond the dollar figure. It signals that the FTC is paying attention to how large platforms respond to identity theft, an issue that affects millions of Americans each year. The FTC has been increasingly active in holding tech and retail companies accountable for consumer protection failures, and this settlement fits that pattern.
Amazon has not responded to requests for comment on the matter.