The same four elements — high promised returns, “AI,” e-commerce storefront, silence-by-contract — produce the same FTC allegations within an 18-month window. That is what “pattern” means in FTC enforcement.
1. The claim they sold
FBA Machine (formerly Passive Scaling) and its owner Bratislav Rozenfeld (also known as Steven Rozenfeld and Steven Rozen) sold a “turnkey” Amazon-storefront business opportunity. Marketing materials and online ads promised consumers they could make money operating online storefronts using the company's “AI-powered software” without prior experience. The defendants allegedly failed to deliver on those promised earnings.
2. The record
In June 2024, the FTC filed suit in the District of New Jersey alleging that Rozenfeld and FBA Machine violated the FTC Act in connection with a business-opportunity scheme that defrauded consumers of more than $15 million. The court entered a temporary order halting the scheme and placing the operation under a receiver.
On July 30, 2025, the FTC announced a stipulated final order (3-0 Commission vote) under which Rozenfeld and FBA Machine are permanently banned from advertising, marketing, distributing, promoting, or offering for sale any business opportunity, from making the specific material misrepresentations alleged in the complaint, and from offering or attempting to enforce any contract provision prohibited by the Consumer Review Fairness Act. The order includes a total monetary judgment of $15.7 million, partially suspended based on inability to pay; the unsuspended portion requires turnover of the contents of multiple financial accounts and the proceeds of real-estate sales. The full judgment becomes immediately payable if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition. Rozenfeld's wife, Amanda Peremen, was added as a relief defendant.
This is a civil settlement, not a criminal conviction. The 2025 settlement is the most recent FTC stipulated order in this catalogue and the most current working example of the FTC's posture toward AI-augmented business-opportunity pitches.
3. What it means for a buyer
For a buyer in 2026, this is the most current working file in the catalogue. The same test from the Automators AI dossier (file guru-file-automators-ai.md) applies: the FTC's allegations target the pitch, the AI claim, the storefront, and the non-disparagement clause. If a current offer uses the same four elements — high promised returns, “AI,” e-commerce storefront, and silence-by-contract — the FTC has filed the same set of allegations against it within the last 18 months. That is what “pattern” means in FTC enforcement.
4. Current standing
Per the FTC press release of July 30, 2025, Rozenfeld and FBA Machine are bound by the stipulated final order, which is in effect. The order is the most recent primary-source confirmation in this file set; no subsequent reversal, modification, or contempt finding is documented in the materials reviewed.