In November 2025, social media users began posting screenshots of an email purportedly from PayPal about money they had apparently received from an “FTC Prime Subscription Settlement Fund.” Many users want to know if there was a legitimate Amazon settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or if it was a scam.

Is this real or a scam?
byu/DrownMeInYourRiver inClassActionSettlement

There was a real settlement between Amazon and the FTC requiring Amazon to refund eligible customers. PayPal was used to automatically refund people.

Thus far, PayPal has not confirmed that it had sent eligible customers emails regarding their settlement payments. If you have any suspicions that an email may be fraudulent, the FTC suggests you don’t click any of the links and instead go directly to PayPal’s website to check your account for any such payments.

According to court documents, the FTC filed a complaint in June 2023 alleging that Amazon essentially tricked unwitting customers into signing up for Amazon Prime and made it cumbersomely difficult to cancel their subscription. In September 2025, the two parties reached a settlement requiring Amazon to pay $2.5 billion, $1.5 billion of which would go towards refunding affected customers.

Between Nov. 12, 2025, and Dec. 24, 2025, Amazon will automatically provide refunds of up to $51 to millions of eligible Amazon Prime customers, an FTC page about the settlement said. The automatic refunds will be sent through PayPal or Venmo.

A separate FTC page did include information confirming PayPal sends emails about FTC settlement refund payments, but also urged caution regarding potential scammers.

“Once payments have been issued, PayPal will send an email telling recipients about their refund,” the FTC wrote. “Don’t click on any links in emails that seem to be from the FTC or from PayPal. It’s safer to go to the website by typing the URL into your browser: ftc.gov/refunds or PayPal.com.”

There are two eligible payment groups, both of which are restricted to customers who signed up for Prime between June 2019 and June 2025, according to the dedicated settlement website.

The first is the automatic payment group, which is made up of the people receiving automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo between Nov. 12 and Dec. 24. If persons in this group don’t accept payment over PayPal or Venmo, they’ll receive a check for the same amount.

Those in the automatic payment group don’t have to do anything to receive their payments, except to accept them within 15 days of getting them via PayPal or Venmo. For people in this group getting a check, the FTC recommends they cash the check within 60 days of receiving it.

The other group is the claims-process group. This is the group of people who have to submit a claim to receive their payment. People who are eligible to submit a claim are people who either unintentionally enrolled in Amazon Prime or tried to cancel their Prime subscription but were unable to do so, and also used between three and 10 Prime benefits (including streaming a song or video through Amazon Music or Prime Video) during a 12-month period between June 2019 and June 2025.

People in the second group don’t do anything yet; the window for filing a claim will open on Dec. 24, 2025, and people in this group should be notified between then and Jan. 23, 2026.

The FTC warned scammers may try to take advantage of this settlement to target victims. At the top of its page for the Amazon refunds, the FTC wrote:

The FTC is not contacting people about refunds in the Amazon matter. If you get a call from someone who claims to be from the FTC, it’s a scam. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. And no one from Amazon will ever ask you for money to get a refund. Only scammers say they can get you special access or a guaranteed refund.

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Get 15% off - Limited Quantity Left! Use promo code: CLEARANCE at checkout

Rexing

In October 2025, a rumor that circulated online claimed a video showed a drag queen wearing revealing clothing while dancing in front of a preschooler.

The clip featured adults sitting and standing in a restaurant with mimosas, resembling a drag brunch-themed gathering. In the video, the purported drag queen — wearing shorts revealing part of her rear end — dances and crawls slowly on her hands and knees to a young girl wearing a dress, who is sitting in a chair that someone moved to face the performer. The drag queen then shakes her butt, gently hugs the child and gives her a kiss on the side of her head. The adults respond positively with smiles, clapping, phones recording and some cheering.

Some users discussing the video asked about or referenced the possibility someone created the clip with an AI tool and one user also mentioned both Brittany M. Hughes, the managing editor of Media Research Center (MRC) organization’s MRCTV, and the MRC Culture Facebook page. (For readers unfamiliar with Media Research Center, its website features an “About” page promising to fight back against “Big Tech companies that aim to suppress conservative voices.”)

On Oct. 22, a user managing Hughes’ popular Facebook page posted the video in a visibly low quality, concluding with her own commentary. The clip displayed the onscreen caption, “Scantily-clad drag queen performs for preschooler.” The post’s text caption also read, “A half-nude man dressed as a woman gyrated for a preschooler while grown adults laughed and clapped. How is this legal???” A user managing the MRC Culture Facebook page then reposted Hughes’ post, receiving over 1 million views. At least one X user reposted the video, as well.

In short, the video authentically showed a drag performer wearing revealing clothing while dancing in front of a young child. We did not locate any information to confirm the age of the child as aligning with that of a preschooler.

The video first appeared online in February 2020, back in a time when drag queens faced political backlash from conservative commentators and voters regarding “Drag Queen Story Hour” library events organized for children. Also, regarding users mention of artificial-intelligence (AI), the clip originated years before the public availability of AI tools like OpenAI’s newly released video generation model Sora 2.

A reverse-image search located a YouTube video (embedded above, earlier in this article) from The Daily Caller, a news outlet co-founded by political commentator and former Fox News TV host Tucker Carlson. That Feb. 28, 2020, version of the clip featured a slightly higher picture quality. The video displayed onscreen captions reading “Wait till the end” and “This sweet little girl asked her mom to get a better view.” The clip also showed a TikTok watermark with a user’s handle. A search for that user’s account found the message, “Couldn’t find this account.”

Also on Feb. 28, 2020, The Daily Caller reported on its website it had confirmed the performer’s name as Canadian drag queen Tynomi Banks, who identifies herself with the pronouns she/her. The reporting said the TikTok user who originally published the video wrote in the text caption, “The friendship we didn’t know we needed, but now can’t live without.” The article did not feature any information about exactly when or where the video was recorded, only referencing the occasion as a drag brunch.

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Get 15% off - Limited Quantity Left! Use promo code: CLEARANCE at checkout

Rexing

*(Only the Death Certificate Remains*)

A retired Police Commissioner had recently moved out of his official residence into his own house, nestled in a quiet colony. He took great pride in his accomplishments and his former stature.

Each evening, he would go for a walk in the neighborhood park. Yet, he neither greeted nor acknowledged anyone. He believed the others in the colony weren’t of his status — not worth his time or attention.

One day, while he was sitting on a park bench, an elderly man came and sat beside him. The man began a friendly conversation, but the Commissioner wasn’t interested in listening. Instead, he talked only about himself — his rank, his authority, his achievements. He often reminded others that he lived here not by necessity, but because he owned the property.

This routine continued for several days. The elderly man listened quietly each time, never interrupting.

Then, one evening, the old man finally spoke.

“Commissioner Saheb,” he said gently, “an electric bulb has value only while it shines. Once it burns out, it doesn’t matter whether it was a 10-watt or a 100-watt bulb. All burnt-out bulbs are the same — silent, lifeless, forgotten. I’ve been living in this colony for five years, and not once have I told anyone that I served as a Member of Parliament — twice.”

The Commissioner’s expression shifted.

The old man continued, his voice calm.

“You see the man sitting to your far right? That’s Mr. Verma. He retired as a General Manager from Indian Railways. The man he’s chatting with — Rao — is a retired Lieutenant General from the Army. And the one quietly walking in white, that’s Mr. Shiva. He was once the Chairman of ISRO. None of them speak of their past titles. They don’t feel the need to.”

“I’m only telling you what I know,” the man said, pausing before he added,

“Because, at the end of the day, we are all burnt-out bulbs. Whether we were zero-watt, 40, 60, or 100-watt — whether we were LED, CFL, halogen, or decorative; once the power is gone, we’re all the same.”

“After retirement, whether you were a Police Commissioner or a Police Constable, it no longer matters.”

He looked at the Commissioner thoughtfully and said,

“The rising sun and the setting sun are both beautiful. But the world bows only to the rising one. That’s just human nature. We must accept that reality.”

“Our titles, our positions are all temporary. If we let them define us, we’re bound to be lost when they leave us.”

“In chess, every piece — the king, the queen, the bishop, the pawn — has its value only while the game is in play. When it’s over, they’re all returned to the same box and the lid is shut.”

He smiled softly, looking around at the people in the park. “So be happy in the moment. Hope for happiness in the future. But never cling to what is no longer yours. No matter how many medals or certificates we collect in life, in the end, everyone receives just one. *The Death Certificate*.”

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"

Wondershare RecoveritData Recovery

Get 15% off - Limited Quantity Left! Use promo code: CLEARANCE at checkout

Rexing