FTC Lawsuit Reveals How Subscription Scam Networks Evade App Store Enforcement
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Genesis Tech, alleging it defrauded consumers through subscription traps using shell companies in Cyprus and Ukraine to hide its identity and funnel revenues overseas.
A new lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) showcases how difficult it has become to police app stores for scammy apps. The suit alleges that Genesis Tech defrauded consumers and routed revenues overseas through shell companies designed to conceal its identity and hide its assets.
Genesis Tech's network allegedly included subsidiaries incorporated in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine, which marketed apps to U.S. consumers. Among its brands were fitness and nutrition apps MadMuscles, Harna, and Unimeal by Amo Apps Limited; PDF Guru and PDF Master from GuruDocs Limited; fashion app Lumi from Bramol Limited; horoscope app Nebula by Obrio Limited; and habit and productivity apps under the Wisey brand by Koflimin Limited, among others.
From early 2023 to mid-2025, these five companies' product offerings accounted for nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in global revenue. The suit also notes that in the 12 months ending September 2025, transactions through all the company's connected PayPal accounts totaled nearly $700 million.
The case highlights a growing challenge for Apple and Google as subscription scams evolve beyond individual apps into intricate networks of shell companies. Genesis Tech registered new corporate entities and created multiple merchant accounts to hide its identity, then transferred money across borders among corporate affiliates. By continually making new accounts, the app publisher avoided fraud monitoring programs for years, the FTC explains.
Like other scammy subscription apps that have drawn regulatory scrutiny, Genesis Tech's products made it easy to sign up but hard to cancel. While promoting products as free or low-cost, consumers who signed up faced auto-renewing subscriptions. The company also charged customers for extra products without knowledge or consent, and sometimes double-charged them. It made cancellation difficult by omitting cancellation options from websites and apps, and often continued charging without authorization.
The FTC alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA). Named as co-defendants are Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa, and Viktoriia Savchuk. The case will be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The FTC has previously taken mobile app makers to court, including cases against the anonymous teen Q&A app NGL, dating app giant Match, gig app Handy, kids' app maker HyperBeard, and others.
