New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office announced on August 9 that they have reached a settlement with the digital marketing company 4K Apps, which will pay a $1.5 million settlement for providing misleading and deceptive information on its website.
4K Apps is a digital marketing company that works on behalf of other companies to provide online promotions. However, they have been profiting by exploiting people’s urgent need for medical services through deceptive websites, leading individuals to purchase related products or services, thereby harming the public’s interests.
After receiving complaints about a particular institution listed on the 4K Apps website, the State Attorney General’s office launched an investigation and discovered that 4K Apps operated dozens of websites. These sites listed directories of local legitimate healthcare institutions along with their phone numbers. However, when people called these phone numbers, they often ended up contacting institutions hundreds of miles away, which were actually clients of 4K Apps for advertising.
Due to the misleading information on 4K Apps’ websites, thousands of New Yorkers seeking mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and elderly living facilities received incorrect information. Letitia James emphasized that her office will continue to take action against such companies to combat fraudulent practices.
As part of the settlement agreement, in addition to paying a $1.5 million fine, 4K Apps will update all its websites to accurately list the phone numbers of actual institutions.