Telemarketing

$1 million telemarketing scheme victimized at least 50 people

June 16, 2008 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced four South Florida men have been sentenced after they pleaded guilty in January to their participation in an illegal boiler room operation that victimized more than 50 people out of more than $1 million. The men were prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

“Investment scams are particularly harmful because they target individuals who are trying to use their money wisely, perhaps to fund important life decisions such as buying a home or planning for retirement, and it our responsibility to protect our communities from this threat,” said Attorney General McCollum.    » read more »

National operation includes more than 180 actions against instances of telemarketing fraud

May 20, 2008 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and a series of Florida partners today announced the results of a national telemarketing fraud sweep, including several actions taken throughout Florida over the past few months.    » read more »

May 7, 2008 -- Jefferson City, Mo. - Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon says Missourians are receiving letters in the mail offering mortgage insurance, refinancing and other services. He says while many of those solicitations are designed to look like they come from a consumer's mortgage lender, they actually come from a separate, unrelated company.    » read more »

February 13, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is backing legislation to ensure that a person who registers with a “do not call” registry only has to do so once. Under the original law, names on “do not call” lists are automatically removed after five years. Feingold is cosponsoring legislation by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that would remove the automatic expiration. The legislation has passed Congress and is awaiting the president’s signature.    » read more »

February 13, 2008 -- (Boise) – United Publishers of America, Inc., a telemarketer from Atlanta, Georgia, can no longer make telephone solicitations to Idahoans as part of a settlement agreement, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced today. The settlement resolves allegations that the company’s telephone solicitations violated the Idaho Telephone Solicitations Act and the Idaho Consumer Protection Act.    » read more »

Pay $152,000 in order obtained by Nixon

January 24, 2008 -- Bolivar, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon today obtained a consent judgment against a San Francisco company that gave false information to Missourians in telemarketing calls. The order signed by St. Louis City Circuit Judge John Garvey was issued against Telelytics (doing business as Debt Solutions) of San Francisco, its owner Scott Kaplan and four other defendants, and requires Telelytics and Kaplan to pay $152,000 to the state and stop calling consumers on the state No Call list.    » read more »

Marketlinkx Direct pays $15,000 penalty

December 10, 2007 -- St. Louis, Mo. — A Florida company that made telemarketing calls to Missourians on the state’s No Call list will cease violating the law and pay a civil penalty of $15,000 under an agreement with Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. Nixon’s assurance of voluntary compliance with Marketlinkx Direct of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and its owner Ezell Brown, was filed today in St. Louis City Circuit Court.    » read more »