The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States announced last week that it will be issuing refunds totaling over $15.8 million to users who have previously used the Cleo AI instant cash advance service. Starting from October 27th, FTC will be sending payments to 2,124,796 eligible users via PayPal.
The exact amount each user will receive has not been disclosed by FTC. Based on an average calculation of the total sum, each person is estimated to receive around $7.44. However, FTC has not specified that the refunds will be distributed equally among all recipients.
This refund stems from a settlement reached between FTC and Cleo in March 2025. At that time, Cleo agreed to pay $17 million (including $10 million for consumer redress and $7 million in civil penalties) to settle the case, without admitting any wrongdoing.
FTC did not outline the specific allocation of the approximately $1.2 million difference in this recent announcement.
In March 2025, FTC filed a lawsuit against Cleo, alleging that Cleo AI had misled consumers with false advertisements promising “quick access to hundreds of dollars in cash,” when in reality, very few users received amounts close to what was advertised. FTC also accused Cleo AI of violating consumer protection laws by charging instant deposit fees and implementing difficult-to-cancel subscription services.
Qualified users will receive email notifications from no-reply@consumersentinel.gov between October 8th and 26th.
Once users receive the PayPal payments, they are required to claim the funds within 30 days.