Paddle opened merchant accounts claiming to be a “merchant of record” or software “reseller,” then used these accounts to process card payments on behalf of numerous, unrelated third-party merchants.

• Paddle enabled overseas schemes to access the credit card system and collect payments from U.S. consumers, and to evade detection by merchant banks and card networks.
• Paddle facilitated schemes, like Restoro-Reimage, that allegedly used fake virus alerts and pop-up messages to impersonate familiar brands, such as Microsoft or McAfee.
• As the “merchant of record,” Paddle charged consumers for automatically renewing subscriptions without clearly disclosing that consumers would incur recurring charges.