US consumers who felt misled into making unwanted purchases from Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, will now receive refund checks, as mentioned in an announcement by the Federal Trade Commission this week.
The FTC noted that the consumer could incur charges by simply trying to wake the game from sleep mode or pressing a button while taking a look at an item. In addition to this, the agency has also accused Epic of preventing some users who contested these charges from accessing the content they already purchased.
Along with the $275 million penalty for improperly collecting personal information from players who are under 13, the settlement also included $245 million allotted for consumer refunds. The initial wave of these refunds is now being distributed.
The FTC, on Monday, revealed that it is issuing over 600,000 payments totalling $72 million to Fortnite players who were charged for the items they did not want to purchase.
Those who have submitted valid claims by 8th October 2024 will get their payments through the chosen method. If a check is received, it should be cashed within 90 days, while payments made using PayPal must be accepted within 30 days, expect these steps no additional steps are required to receive the payment.
As for the claims that were submitted after the 8th of October 2024, the FTC will evaluate the submission and for this also no extra steps are needed. Individuals who believe that they qualify for a refund but have not filed a claim have the option to visit ftc.gov/Fortnite to check their eligibility and get familiar with the steps to apply, however, there is a condition that all the claims must be submitted by Friday, the 10th of January, 2025. To avoid any scams related to the Fortnite refund programs, the FTC has emphasized that no payment will ever be asked to file a claim and any such email or text should be considered a scam.
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