Recipients say they filed class-action claims on a whim amid lawsuit alleging products were unlawfully marketed to minors

Drewe Raimi was lying in bed scrolling TikTok when she got the notification: Venmo’s cash register cha-ching, telling her $3,456.44 had just hit her account. She assumed it was spam, or a friend playing a prank. But the cash out came from Juul Labs Inc, the e-cigarette company that turned vapes into cool kid accessories and revived nicotine for millennials and gen Z youth.

Raimi had filled out a class-action claim with friends during her senior year of college in 2021, joining a lawsuit against Juul and Altria, one of the world’s largest tobacco producers, which owned stake in Juul until 2023.