WASHINGTON, D.C. — Career Step, LLC, an online career-training company, has been mandated to pay $43.5 million in debt cancellation and cash settlements to resolve allegations of deceptive advertising practices brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The charges assert that the company misled consumers, particularly servicemembers and their families, with false claims of inflated employment outcomes, job placements, and partnerships with prominent firms.
Career Step will cancel $27.8 million in debts and provide $15.7 million in cash for consumer redress. “Servicemembers and their families make sacrifices every day to protect our freedoms,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We owe it to them to make sure that when they look to use their hard-earned benefits to further their education, they get facts and not fantasy.”
Deceptive Advertising Allegations
According to the FTC’s complaint, Career Step, also known as CareerStep, CareerCert, and Carrus, promotes training programs for healthcare jobs, targeting military personnel and their spouses. Since at least 2019, the company has allegedly used deceptive ads on social media, its website, and military-focused publications. The FTC claims that Career Step misrepresented job placement services, outcomes, externships, and program durations to lure consumers.
Career Step’s representatives falsely promised job placement assistance, claiming they would find the “perfect job” for consumers. In reality, the company only offered minimal job search help, such as resume drafting and emailing general job postings. The FTC’s complaint revealed that Career Step’s claims of job placement rates were based on a small, unrepresentative survey pool, with most participants never completing the program.
False Claims and Misleading Partnerships
The FTC accused Career Step of falsely advertising partnerships with leading healthcare companies like CVS and Walgreens, implying guaranteed job placements for graduates. However, these partnerships were unrelated to post-graduation employment. The company also misled students about externship placements, a necessary component for program completion, with fewer than 10% of students actually placed in such roles.
Furthermore, Career Step promised program completion within four months, despite most students taking much longer due to various obstacles, including website issues and lack of response from representatives. Many students had to pay for costly program extensions to complete their courses.
Deceptive Reviews and Settlement Terms
The company engaged in a deceptive incentivized review scheme, offering students free program extensions for positive reviews on platforms like BBB, Google, and Trustpilot. These reviews falsely appeared to be genuine, uncompensated opinions.
The settlement requires Career Step to pay $15.7 million for consumer redress and cancel $27.8 million in student debts. The company is also prohibited from deceptive advertising practices, including misrepresenting employment prospects, partnerships, externship placements, program durations, and costs.
Career Step must inform third-party platforms about the FTC’s action and request the removal of incentivized reviews. The FTC’s complaint and stipulated final order will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
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