FTC sues Genesis Tech over alleged subscription scam network

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. consumer protection regulator, has filed a lawsuit against Genesis Tech. The complaint alleges that the company defrauded consumers and routed revenues overseas through the use of shell companies designed to conceal its identity and hide its assets. According to the FTC lawsuit, the operation targeted U.S. consumers through a network of overseas subsidiaries.

The scale of the operation was significant. From early 2023 to mid-2025, the product offerings of these companies accounted for nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in global revenue. In addition, in the 12 months ending in September 2025, transactions through all of the company’s connected PayPal accounts totaled nearly $700 million.

The FTC’s suit alleges that Genesis Tech marketed these “scammy apps” under various brand names and corporate entities, including:

• MadMuscles, Harna, and Unimeal: Fitness and nutrition apps under Amo Apps Limited.
• PDF Guru and PDF Master: Document tools under GuruDocs Limited.
• Lumi: A fashion app under Bramol Limited.
• Nebula: A horoscope app under Obrio Limited.
• Wisey: Habit and personal productivity apps under Koflimin Limited.

According to the complaint, these “scammy apps” made it easy for users to sign up but hard to cancel. While Genesis Tech promoted its products as free or low-cost, consumers who signed up were instead met with auto-renewing subscriptions. The FTC alleges the company also charged customers for extra products without their consent, double-charged them, and omitted cancellation options from its websites and apps to continue charging them without authorization.

The FTC alleges these practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). To evade detection, Genesis Tech registered new corporate entities and created multiple merchant accounts to hide its identity, allowing it to bypass fraud monitoring programs and transfer money across borders among its various corporate affiliates. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, also names several individuals as co-defendants: Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa, and Viktoriia Savchuk.

Why it matters

The case highlights a growing challenge for Apple and Google, as subscription scams evolve beyond individual apps into intricate networks of shell companies that evade standard enforcement.