Razer Zephyr face mask buyers who never cashed the refund check the Federal Trade Commission mailed in January 2025 are getting a second chance, this time as a PayPal payment that must be accepted within 30 days. The FTC lists the Razer program on its refund pages with an October 2026 date. The first round of checks produced more than $906,000 in refunds.
The money comes from a 2024 settlement over Zephyr masks that Razer advertised as N95-grade. The FTC says the masks were never certified as N95. The agency has not posted a total or a recipient count for the PayPal round.
Why Razer is paying refunds at all
The FTC announced the settlement on April 29, 2024. Razer, Inc. agreed to pay $1,071,254.33, equal to its revenue from the masks, which the FTC said it expected to use for full consumer refunds, plus a $100,000 civil penalty, according to the agency’s press release. The Commission voted 3-0 to refer the case to the Justice Department, which filed it in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The Zephyr was advertised as an N95 or N95-equivalent mask that would protect wearers from COVID-19. Sales began in October 2021, online and in stores in Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas. The standard mask sold for $99.99, the Starter Pack for $149.99 and a filter pack for $29.99.
Razer never submitted the masks to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or the FDA for certification, and NIOSH never certified any Zephyr as an N95 respirator. Samuel Levine, then director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the businesses falsely claimed the mask was the equivalent of an N95 certified respirator.
The question for former buyers is whether a Zephyr mask, filter pack or Starter Pack purchase from Razer matches the program, and whether the January 2025 check was ever cashed. A person who did not cash it should watch for an email from an address ending in .gov, then a PayPal message, and accept the payment within 30 days, as the FTC’s Razer refund page instructs.
Stay ahead of settlement and refund news: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. Join the Retirement Money Brief and we’ll send you our Open Settlements & Refund Tracker as a welcome gift.
Get the Brief + the settlements tracker →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
The refund page puts it plainly: the FTC is sending PayPal payments to people who bought Zephyr face masks from Razer and did not cash their check. The 30-day clock matters because a payment that sits unaccepted can lapse. The page lists a refund administrator line at 1-833-285-3003 for questions.
How the FTC’s PayPal payments work
The agency’s refund program FAQ says it emails recipients first from an address ending in .gov, and PayPal then sends its own email after the payment is issued. The FAQ tells recipients not to click links in those emails and to type ftc.gov/refunds or PayPal.com into the browser instead. Only a name and email address are needed to open a PayPal account.
The FTC says it never requires upfront fees and never asks for sensitive information such as a Social Security or bank account number. Anyone claiming to be from the agency who asks for money is running a scam. A legitimate case is listed at ftc.gov/refunds with the paying company’s name and a phone number.
Refunds also usually come with no tax form. The FAQ says the FTC generally does not issue tax forms, but if it is required to report a payment to the IRS, it includes a 1099 form with the check, and the amount is reported as income. Anyone with a question is told to consult a tax advisor.
The January 2025 round and the 90-day checks
The FTC’s January 13, 2025 announcement said it was sending more than $1 million in full refunds to 6,764 consumers who bought the deceptively marketed masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recipients got a check or a PayPal payment. Checks had to be cashed within 90 days, as stated on the check, and PayPal payments had to be redeemed within 30 days.
The refund page describes the first round as having produced more than $906,000 in refunds, a smaller figure than the amount announced in January 2025. The page does not say how many people are being paid again or how much the PayPal round totals.
Expired checks do not always end the matter. The FAQ says the FTC may reissue an expired check if money remains in the settlement fund, and reissues are processed monthly. Requests tied to a name change, a death or a spelling error must be submitted in writing by mail or email.
The FAQ also explains that none of the money collected in FTC lawsuits goes to the agency or its attorneys. Settlement money covers the direct costs of sending refunds, such as printing and mailing checks, and the FTC says more than 95% of refund money over the last five years went back to consumers. The five contractors it works with include Simpluris, the administrator named in the Razer announcement.
What former Razer buyers can do before the 30 days run out
The FTC’s case page for United States v. Razer shows the order bars Razer, Inc. from COVID-related health misrepresentations and from unsubstantiated health claims about protective equipment. That order is the reason the money exists.
The FTC page describes the PayPal payments as going to people who bought the masks and did not cash their check, and it points to no claim form for this round. Because the agency says it never requires fees or sensitive information, a message that asks for a fee, a gift card or a bank login before releasing a Razer refund is not from the FTC.
For a household, the practical steps are small. Search the inbox and spam folder for the FTC’s .gov email, accept the PayPal payment inside 30 days if it arrives, and call the administrator at 1-833-285-3003 if a message appears to be missing. A note of the date the payment arrived helps with taxes and record keeping.
Did a Razer mask refund check go uncashed?
A PayPal payment that sits past its 30-day window can lapse, and an FTC email is easy to lose among spam and promotions. Refund money that arrives in pieces over two rounds is also easy to lose track of at tax time.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a claim log and payment tracker that records what was owed, when it was sent and when it was accepted or cashed. It also covers how to get an expired or uncashed settlement check reissued, the situation behind this program.
Get a claim log and payment tracker for refunds like this one →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
