Nuvei to Pay $4.85 Million Over Payment Processing for Scam Merchants

Payment processor Nuvei will pay $4.85 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it opened and maintained accounts for merchants the agency says it knew or should have known were engaged in deception, including tech support scams that took millions of dollars from consumers.

The FTC’s complaint names Canada-based Nuvei Corporation along with subsidiaries Nuvei International Group Limited, Nuvei Limited, SafeCharge Digital Limited and Nuvei Technologies Inc. According to the agency, Nuvei processed more than $30 million in consumer payments for Reimage, an offshore tech support scam, between 2017 and 2023.

What the FTC Says Happened

The complaint alleges that Nuvei, through a merchant acquiring bank registered in Cyprus, provided Reimage and other overseas deceptive tech support schemes with payment processing accounts that let them take credit card payments from cardholders in the United States and elsewhere. The FTC took action against the operators of Reimage in 2024 and last year sued a separate Europe-based payment processor, Paddle, over its alleged role facilitating Reimage’s scheme.

The FTC also alleges that Nuvei’s U.S.-based subsidiary, Nuvei Technologies Inc., opened and maintained merchant accounts for other companies it names in the complaint: DK Automation, described as selling business opportunities with false or baseless earnings claims, and American Tax Service, described as impersonating government tax authorities. The FTC brought its own enforcement action against DK Automation and its founder in November 2022, and against American Tax Service and its owners in October 2025. The complaint further alleges Nuvei took on merchants that other payment processors or acquiring banks had previously terminated for excessive chargebacks or fraud.

“Today’s action underscores the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that our payments system operates free of fraud,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our enforcement work reinforces the transparency and trust in the payments system that consumers and businesses depend on. Consumers deserve a payment system that is competitive, transparent and fortified against fraud—and we will take action anytime those standards are threatened.”

The Legal Charges

The complaint charges Nuvei and its operators with unfair practices in connection with payment processing in violation of the FTC Act, and with assisting and facilitating deceptive telemarketers in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The Commission vote authorizing the complaint and stipulated order was 2-0, and the FTC filed the complaint and final order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

What Changes Under the Settlement

Under the proposed order, Nuvei will pay $4.85 million, which the FTC says will be used to provide consumer redress. The order also bars specific practices going forward:

• Nuvei is banned from providing payment services to anyone selling tech support products or services by telemarketing or by pop-up messages relating to security or performance issues on a computer or other device.
• Nuvei is prohibited from making false or misleading statements to obtain merchant accounts and other payment processing services for itself or others, and from engaging in tactics to avoid fraud or risk monitoring programs established by banks or credit card networks, including load balancing.
• Nuvei is required to screen and monitor existing and prospective clients, including those in certain merchant categories such as outbound telemarketing, and to conduct enhanced screening and investigation of any existing client whose chargeback rates exceed limits set in the order.

Who This Affects

Consumers who paid tech support scams like Reimage, or who dealt with merchants such as DK Automation or American Tax Service, are the direct victims described in the complaint. The redress fund is intended to compensate consumers harmed by these schemes, though the FTC’s release does not specify how individual consumers can file claims or what the eligibility process will look like. The FTC notes that the case will be decided by the court and that a complaint reflects the Commission’s “reason to believe” a violation occurred, not a final finding.

The order’s screening requirements are aimed at payment processors and acquiring banks broadly, since the case addresses how merchant accounts get approved and monitored across the industry. Anyone who has paid for tech support services after seeing a pop-up warning about a security or performance problem, or who has done business with a company impersonating a tax authority, may want to review past charges on their statements. Full details of the FTC’s complaint and the proposed order are available through the agency’s press release on the Nuvei settlement.

Next Step

Consumers who believe they paid a tech support scam, a business opportunity scheme like DK Automation, or a tax-impersonation merchant like American Tax Service can report the incident directly to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which the agency uses to track fraud patterns and inform redress efforts.

This is a News-lane report. It was drafted automatically from the linked primary source and published after automated checks that every figure appears in that source. It is summarised regulatory news, not evergreen guidance and not financial advice. See our AI content disclosure and disclaimer.