The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Genesis over “deceptive subscription schemes.” Questions are raised about the company’s Nebula, Wisey, Lumi, Harna and other products

What is the essence of the accusations?

According to the FTC, Genesis Tech operates as a single entity through a network of controlled companies, including affiliates registered in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine. The Cypriot companies promote products to American consumers and process payments through partners registered in Delaware.

The regulator alleges that Genesis Tech and its affiliates use three main tactics. First, they fail to disclose material terms — products are advertised as free or have a low one-time cost, often with a money-back guarantee, but at checkout they hide information about automatic subscription renewals or recurring charges by placing the terms in the smallest font on the page. Second, they engage in unauthorized charges — double-charging for the same product or adding other products to the transaction without the user’s consent. Third, they make it difficult to cancel a subscription — for example, by removing the cancellation option from the site or app, requiring an explanation for the cancellation, and sometimes continuing to charge even after the cancellation has been confirmed.

The FTC also alleges that companies in the Genesis ecosystem are constantly launching new products, registering new legal entities, and opening new merchant accounts to evade fraud monitoring programs. This, the regulator says, creates a network of Cypriot and Delaware shell companies that allow them to continue defrauding American consumers and siphoning funds overseas.

What products and how much income

According to the commission, Genesis' five main products alone generated about $250 million in revenue from early 2023 to mid-2025:

• MadMuscles, Harna, and Unimeal — fitness and nutrition apps;
• Wisey — self-help courses for ADHD and productivity;
• PDF Guru and PDF Master are tools for editing PDFs;
• Lumi — fashion consulting;
• Nebula — horoscopes and communication with psychics.

None of these projects are currently listed on the official Genesis website.

«These schemes range from an online program that claims to diagnose and treat ADHD symptoms to PDF editing tools. Defendants fraudulently sell subscriptions to consumers and bill them without their permission, defrauding consumers worldwide,» the FTC complaint states.

FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Director Christopher Mufaridge said the case demonstrates the importance of the bureau’s revamped anti-fraud program.

Who is involved in the case?

The lawsuit involves 15 legal entities, including GM Universeapps Ltd (also known as Universe Group), Koflimin Ltd, Growthmind Labs Ltd, Lopofist Ltd, Gurudocs Ltd, Bramol Ltd, VPN Mobapps Ltd, Evertech Inc, Obrio Ltd, GM Unicorn Corporation Ltd, Spiritual Nebula Ltd, Yolo Brothers Inc, Amomedia Ltd (also known as AMO), Amoapps Ltd and Amoapp Inc — some of them registered in Cyprus, some in Delaware.

Among the individuals in the case are Genesis founders Volodymyr Mnogoletny and Vasyl Ulyanov, as well as Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Harbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanytsia, and Viktoria Savchuk.

The Commission alleges that the company’s actions violate the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) and the Restoring Online Shoppers Confidence Act (ROSCA). The Commission voted 2-0 to file the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Context

Genesis is one of the largest Ukrainian IT product companies and a co-founding ecosystem founded by Volodymyr Mnogoletny and Vasyl Ulyanov in 2008. The ecosystem has 25 businesses, 8 of which have announced spinoffs — including Headway Inc, BetterMe, Quarks, Appflame, Holywater, Solidgate, Skelar, and Universe.

The FTC has previously filed similar lawsuits against a number of other consumer companies, including Amazon Prime, Adobe, Uber One, Match.com, Care.com, Chegg, GrubHub, Instacart, Vonage, ABCmouse, and MoviePass.

Genesis has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

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