The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Amazon of signing customers up to its Prime service without their consent and making it difficult for customers to cancel their subscriptions.

On Wednesday the organisation announced it had filed a complaint stating that the online retailer used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.

The FTC said that the cancellation process was designed to be complicated and stop people from unsubscribing, adding that the cancellation page was difficult to locate on the website and users were offered discounts when they tried to unsubscribe. It also claims that senior leadership at Amazon delayed or rejected changes to make the process easier, as it would have hurt the company’s revenue.

The watchdog said that in some cases the option to purchase goods without subscribing to Prime was hard to locate. When making a purchase, customers were not clearly told that they were agreeing to join Prime for a recurring subscription, according to the Commission.

“Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” said FTC chair Lina M. Khan. “These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike.

“The FTC will continue to vigorously protect Americans from “dark patterns” and other unfair or deceptive practices in digital markets.”

Retail Systems has reached out to Amazon for comment.

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