Too tricky to cancel: Amazon faces US trial over alleged Prime subscription deceptions

E-commerce giant accused of using tricks to enroll millions into membership and making it nearly impossible to cancel

Amazon went to trial on Monday in a US government lawsuit that accuses the e-commerce giant of using tricks to enroll millions of customers in its Prime subscription service and then making it nearly impossible to cancel.

The Federal Trade Commission's complaint, filed in June 2023, alleges that Amazon knowingly used designs known as dark patterns" to deceive consumers into signing up for the $139-per-year Prime service during checkouts.