Jamaal Sanford received a disturbing email in May of last year. The message, whose sender claimed to be part of a “Russian shadow team,” contained Sanford’s home address, social security number and his daughter’s college. It came with a very specific threat.

The sender said Sanford, who lives in Springfield, Missouri, would only only be safe if he removed a negative online review.

“Do not play tough guy,” the email said. “You have nothing to gain by keeping the reviews and EVERYTHING to lose by not cooperating.”

Months earlier, Sanford had left a scathing review for an e-commerce “automation” company called Ascend Ecom on the rating site Trustpilot. Ascend’s purported business was the launching and managing of Amazon storefronts on behalf of clients, who would pay money for the service and the promise of earning thousands of dollars in “passive income.”

Sanford had invested $35,000 in such a scheme. He never recouped the money and is now in debt, according to a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit unsealed on Friday.

His experience is a key piece of the FTC’s suit, which accuses Ascend of breaking federal laws by making false claims related to earnings and business performance, and threatening or penalizing customers for posting honest reviews, among other violations. The FTC is seeking monetary relief for Ascend customers and to prevent Ascend from doing business permanently.

It’s the latest sign of the FTC’s crackdown on e-commerce money-making schemes on top of some of the internet’s leading marketplaces, like Amazon and Airbnb. Since mid-2023, the agency has sued at least four automation companies, alleging deceptive marketing practices and falsely telling customers that they could generate passive income.

The FTC isn’t just focused on e-commerce automation businesses. On Wednesday, the agency said it’s stepping up enforcement against companies that use artificial intelligence “as a way to supercharge deceptive or unfair conduct that harms consumers.” The agency pointed to Ascend as a company that it took action against in part because of its claims that it used AI “to maximize clients’ business success.”

The FTC has also pledged to go after companies that try to suppress negative reviews online as part of new rules issued this year targeting fake reviews.