If you’ve been “scammed” into getting an Amazon Prime subscription, you should be paid by today

Amazon Prime It provides a lot of valuable benefits to its members, but the company’s sign-up practices for its premium subscription from 2019 to 2025 led to many customers accidentally signing up for a service they didn’t want.

Amazon is now paying the price for this deception, as the US Federal Trade Commission has imposed a massive $2.5 billion settlement on the company over its subscription methods.

The majority of the settlement — $1.5 billion — went toward refunding eligible subscribers, with the remainder representing a civil penalty. Amazon is also now legally required to provide a clear and obvious option to opt out of Prime, making it as easy to leave the service as it is to join.

Amazon does not acknowledge suspicious behavior. “Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” said Mark Plavkin, a senior director at Amazon. He said in a statement. “We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers whether to sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to deliver great value to millions of loyal Prime members around the world.”

The online retail giant began sending payments to eligible people in November and was supposed to wrap up its initial automatic payments today, December 24. Read on to learn more about the Amazon settlement and what to do if you think you’re eligible for compensation but haven’t received a payment.

Why did the FTC fine Amazon?

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Amazon, The company was accused of using “dark patterns” to push people into Prime subscriptions and then making them extremely difficult to cancel. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserted that Amazon violated Section 5 of the FTC Act and Online Shopper Trust Restoration Act.

“Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into signing up for automatically renewing Prime subscriptions,” FTC Complaint male.

Who is eligible for Amazon compensation?

Amazon’s legal settlement is limited to customers who signed up for Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. It is also limited to customers who signed up for Prime using the “disputed sign-up flow” or who signed up for Prime through any method but were unsuccessful in canceling their memberships.

The FTC has called for specific registration pages, including the Prime Video registration page, the Universal Prime Decision page, the Select Shipping Option page, and the Single Page Checkout page. To qualify for damages, claimants must not have used more than 10 Benefits of Amazon Prime In any 12 month period.

Customers who sign up through those difficult processes and don’t use more than three Prime benefits in one year will automatically be paid by Amazon within 90 days. Other eligible Amazon customers will need to do so Submit a claimAmazon must send notifications to these people within 30 days of making automatic payments.

If you qualify for automatic payment, you should have received an email from Amazon by today explaining how to claim the money. You can pay via PayPal or Venmo. If you prefer a paper check, do not accept digital payment. The FTC says Amazon will email you a check that you must cash within 60 days.

How big are Amazon payments?

Payments to eligible Amazon claimants will be limited to a maximum of $51. This amount may be reduced depending on the number of Amazon Prime benefits you used while subscribing to the service. These benefits include free shipping and 2-day viewing Shows or movies on Prime Video Or grocery discounts from Whole Foods.

Customers eligible for payments must have received them between November 12 and December 24, 2025. If you are eligible for reimbursement from Amazon but have not received a payout, you will need to file a claim after Amazon begins the claim process. the The Federal Trade Commission says It will update its Amazon settlement site once this process begins.

Customers who did not use a contested sign-up process but instead were unable to cancel their Prime memberships will need to submit payment claims.