Prohibited Businesses List
Update: 2023-12-01 03:21:27
Drugs
– E-Cigarettes
– Illegal Drugs and related Paraphernalia
– Non-pharmaceutical synthetic Drugs
– Nutraceuticals
– Online and/or Non-face-to-face Pharmacy or Pharmacy Referral
– Substances designed to mimic illegal drugs and/or other psychoactive products
– Inhalants / Amyl Nitrite
– Marijuana (Cannabis or CBD) or direct relationships to industry
– Sales of goods requiring age verification (e.g. tobacco, alcohol) not in-person
Extended Payments
– Advanced payments greater than 1 year (any product or service)
– Extended Warranty Companies
– Lifetime subscriptions (any product or service)
Financial Services
– Cash Advances (other than regulated financial institutions), Cash Gifting, Check Cashing
– Currency, Commodity Exchange, Foreign Exchange, Money Transfer Businesses
– Credit Card Protection
– Credit Repair Agencies
– E-Cash, Digital cryptocurrency and/or cybercurrency
– Mortgage Reduction Services / Mortgage/ Loan Modification/ Consulting services
– Payment Facilitators (PayFac)
– Payment processors
– Predatory Lenders and Payday Loans
– Programs on how to apply for low-interest credit cards
– Quasi Cash
– Wholesale currency, which includes discounted currencies or currency exchanges
– Collection Agencies or firms involved in recovering/collecting past due receivables
– Foreclosure Protection/Guarantees (including “how to” guides)
– Investment Programs or Opportunities
– Virtual currency/cryptocurrency or credits that can be monetized, re-sold, or converted to physical or digital goods or services or otherwise exit the virtual world
Health & Beauty
– Massage Parlors
– Modeling Agencies
– COVID-19 tests, cures, treatment, and prevention (excluding licensed/genuine healthcare providers)
– Astrology/Tarot Card/Psychics
Marketing
– “Get Rich Quick” Schemes
– Hate-related material
– Deceptive Marketing Practices
– Merchants offering free gifts, prizes, sweepstakes, incentives, or enticements, the winning of a contest as an inducement to purchase a product or service
– Multi-level / Affiliate Marketing Businesses
– Negative renewal option business models
– Inbound Telemarketing with an “Up-Sell” and “Up-Sell” Merchants
– Negative Option Billers
– Outbound Telemarketing
– Ponzi Schemes
– Sweepstakes
Relationships
– Companion/Escort Services, Dating Services
– Bride Catalog /Mail Order Spouse/International Match Making Services
– Most Sexually Oriented or Pornographic Products and Services
Retail
– Pawn Shops
– Counterfeit Goods / Replicas
– Weapons or Gun Dealers
– Any Product/Service considered illegal
Technology
– Cyberlocker and similar storage entities
– Phone Unlocking Services
– Prepaid Access, Phone Cards, Phone Services and Cell Phones
– Resale of Social Media Activity
– Social Media “Click Farms” (e.g. the sale of clicks/likes/reviews/endorsements)
– Spyware
– Jammers
– Malware
Travel
– Subscriptions to travel services or prepackaged trips
Other Services
– Gambling
– Age Verification
– Brand or reputational damaging, potential or otherwise, activities including but not limited to Occult materials, non-consensual mutilation of a person or body part
– Fake references and other services / products that foster deception (including fake IDs and government documents)
– Merchants that have ransom-like or extortion-like basis for their business model
– Paper Mills (AKA Essay or Term Paper Mill)
– Penny Auctions