Some Amazon Prime members can now file a claim in a multi-billion-dollar settlement.

Lawsuit Explained

As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Amazon was sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2023. The FTC alleged that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their knowledge and made it difficult for them to cancel. The agency also alleged that Amazon obtained consumer billing information without clearly disclosing the material terms of the Prime membership, according to the settlement.

The FTC said Amazon violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

Amazon Prime Refund FTC Settlement

The lawsuit was settled in September 2025 for $2.5 billion, which includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to nearly 35 million customers, per an FTC news release. The settlement also requires Amazon to end the challenged Prime enrollment and cancellation practices.

Amazon has not admitted any wrongdoing.

“Today, the Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson in the news release.

“The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription. Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again. The Trump-Vance FTC is committed to fighting back when companies try to cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay,” he continued.

How To File a Claim

Per the settlement website, some customers will receive automatic payments, even if they do not file a claim, but others may need to submit one.

Those who fall under the Automatic Payment Group are customers who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, are enrolled through challenged enrollment flow, and have used no more than three Prime benefits in 12 months during that period. Payments of up to $51 for those who qualify will be distributed within 90 days of the court order, which was issued on Dec. 24, 2025.

Those who do not fall under the Automatic Payment Group may qualify under the Claim Process Payment Group and will receive notice by email or mail. The qualifications for this group are U.S. consumers who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, used more than three but fewer than ten Prime benefits in 12 months during the same time period, and unintentionally enrolled through a Challenged Enrollment Flow or were unable to cancel through the online cancellation flow.

The claims period opened Jan. 5, 2026, notes the settlement website, and those who qualify for the Claim Process Payment Group will be notified of their eligibility by Jan. 23, 2026.

Those Amazon customers can file their claim through the settlement website.