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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAAt the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted a sprawling enterprise of deceptive subscription schemes—comprised of 15 corporations and eight individuals—from continuing to deceive consumers with hidden costs and recurring charges, while failing to provide simple mechanisms to cancel subscriptions.The Genesis Tech enterprise, along with its founder-CEOs Vladimir Mnogoletny and Vasily Ulianov, have built and operated a broad portfolio of misleading internet-based subscription schemes. These schemes range from an online program that claims it can diagnose and treat ADHD symptoms to PDF editing tools, according to a complaint filed by the FTC. The defendants deceptively market subscriptions to consumers and bill consumers without their permission, resulting in consumers worldwide being defrauded.“The Trump-Vance FTC is engaged in robust enforcement to address deception and illegal subscription offerings,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This case illustrates the benefits and importance of the Bureau’s reinvigorated anti-fraud program.”According to the FTC’s complaint, Genesis Tech operates as a common enterprise through a network of entities it controls, including a series of affiliates incorporated in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine. The Cyprus companies market to U.S. consumers and access U.S. payment processing through counterparts incorporated in Delaware.Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries work together to continually launch new deceptive product offerings, register new corporate identities and open new merchant accounts. Together, Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries are able to hide their true identities from consumers and attempt to hide their assets by channeling ill-gotten gains through cross-border transfers among corporate affiliates, the FTC’s complaint alleges.According to the FTC’s complaint, Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries have created and distributed dozens of varying deceptive product offerings, which include:MadMuscles, Harna and Unimeal (fitness and nutrition apps);Wisey (ADHD/productivity self-help courses);PDF Guru and PDF Master (PDF editing tools);Lumi (fashion consulting); andNebula (horoscope readings and psychic chats).From early 2023 to mid-2025, these five products accounted for nearly a quarter billion dollars in global revenue, the complaint alleges.Regardless of the product, the FTC alleges that Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries deploy the following tactics to harm consumers:Failure to disclose material terms: Defendants advertise products as being free or available for a low, one-time cost, often with a money-back guarantee. But when consumers sign up, the defendants obscure references to auto-renewing subscriptions or recurring charges. Their webpages fail to disclose material terms clearly and conspicuously, consistently relegating terms to the smallest print on the page.Charges without authorization: Defendants make unauthorized charges even beyond the undisclosed subscription fees, by double-charging consumers for the same product or by adding more products to the transaction without consumers’ knowledge or consent.Failure to provide simple cancellation mechanisms: Defendants make cancellation difficult, for example, by omitting cancellation options from their websites and apps or requiring consumers to explain why they want to cancel, and, even after confirming cancellation, continue charging or attempting to charge users without authorization.The FTC alleges that Genesis Tech and its affiliates continue to churn out new deceptive products, continually register new companies and open fresh merchant accounts to avoid fraud monitoring programs. The result is an ever-evolving web of Cyprus and Delaware shell companies that allows Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries to continue defrauding U.S. consumers and routing their ill-gotten gains overseas, the FTC’s complaint further alleges.The FTC alleges these practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). The complaint also names Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa and Viktoriia Savchuk as co-defendants.The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 2-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.The FTC staff attorneys on this matter are Alyssa Wu and Shining Hsu of the agency’s Western Region San Francisco and Josh Doan of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.
At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted a sprawling enterprise of deceptive subscription schemes—comprised of 15 corporations and eight individuals—from continuing to deceive consumers with hidden costs and recurring charges, while failing to provide simple mechanisms to cancel subscriptions.
The Genesis Tech enterprise, along with its founder-CEOs Vladimir Mnogoletny and Vasily Ulianov, have built and operated a broad portfolio of misleading internet-based subscription schemes. These schemes range from an online program that claims it can diagnose and treat ADHD symptoms to PDF editing tools, according to a complaint filed by the FTC. The defendants deceptively market subscriptions to consumers and bill consumers without their permission, resulting in consumers worldwide being defrauded.
“The Trump-Vance FTC is engaged in robust enforcement to address deception and illegal subscription offerings,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This case illustrates the benefits and importance of the Bureau’s reinvigorated anti-fraud program.”
According to the FTC’s complaint, Genesis Tech operates as a common enterprise through a network of entities it controls, including a series of affiliates incorporated in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine. The Cyprus companies market to U.S. consumers and access U.S. payment processing through counterparts incorporated in Delaware.
Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries work together to continually launch new deceptive product offerings, register new corporate identities and open new merchant accounts. Together, Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries are able to hide their true identities from consumers and attempt to hide their assets by channeling ill-gotten gains through cross-border transfers among corporate affiliates, the FTC’s complaint alleges.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries have created and distributed dozens of varying deceptive product offerings, which include:
From early 2023 to mid-2025, these five products accounted for nearly a quarter billion dollars in global revenue, the complaint alleges.
Regardless of the product, the FTC alleges that Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries deploy the following tactics to harm consumers:
The FTC alleges that Genesis Tech and its affiliates continue to churn out new deceptive products, continually register new companies and open fresh merchant accounts to avoid fraud monitoring programs. The result is an ever-evolving web of Cyprus and Delaware shell companies that allows Genesis Tech and its subsidiaries to continue defrauding U.S. consumers and routing their ill-gotten gains overseas, the FTC’s complaint further alleges.
The FTC alleges these practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). The complaint also names Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa and Viktoriia Savchuk as co-defendants.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 2-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The FTC staff attorneys on this matter are Alyssa Wu and Shining Hsu of the agency’s Western Region San Francisco and Josh Doan of the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.