Telemarketing

Legislation Would Limit Telemarketing Abuse, Provide Redress Against Illegal Debt Collection Practices and Advance Consumer Information Privacy

June 5, 2009 -- New York Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he has submitted three bills to the Legislature to greatly strengthen New York’s consumer protection laws. The legislation focuses on several important areas: telemarketing, sale of sensitive personal information, and debt collection.    » read more »

$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 »

Defendant ran “boiler room” operations, scammed victims out of millions of dollars

December 10, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Miami-Dade County man was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he violated the terms of his criminal probation. Fred Massaro was serving a 10-year probation sentence after a 13-year prison sentence he received in 1997 for his involvement in a criminal pyramid scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $2.3 million.    » read more »

December 4, 2007 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that his office has settled a lawsuit filed against Canadian telemarketers and their Vermont-based check processor. The settlement requires, among other things, payments to the State totaling $20,000, future payments of up to $200,000, refunds to consumers, and a permanent and global ban on telemarketing by the Canadians.    » read more »

November 30, 2007 -- St. Louis, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon on Thursday (Nov. 29) obtained a court order freezing the assets of a San Francisco company that gave false information to Missourians in telemarketing calls selling credit card consolidation and credit counseling services.

The order, signed by St. Louis City Circuit Judge John Garvey, was issued against Telelytics and its officer Scott Kaplan. Kaplan and Scott Olson, CEO of defendant Generations Direct, have been ordered to travel to St. Louis to give depositions regarding the false information.    » read more »

November 19, 2007 -- HAMMOND, IN – Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit against three Illinois-based companies for making illegal pre-recorded sales calls to Indiana citizens whose phone numbers are registered on the state’s Do Not Call list. The named companies in the lawsuit, Sonnenschein Financial Services, Sonnenschein Marketing Services and Target Marketing of Illinois, Inc., are alleged to have used an automated dialing machine to call nearly 80 phone numbers.    » read more »

September 28, 2007 -- SEATTLE – A reminder for everyone who signed up for the national Do Not Call Registry back in 2003 when it was created: It’s time to renew your spot on the list if you want to continue to stay off of telemarketers’ phone lists. Numbers are flushed after five years. About half of the 148 million numbers on the nationwide registry are due to fall off the list starting in June.

While you’re renewing your phone listing, you might also want to remove your address from junk mail lists. Here’s how to reduce both unwanted phone calls and mail:    » read more »

September 28, 2007 -- INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter is assuring Indiana Do Not Call registrants that they do not need to re-register their phone number in order to continue receiving the benefits of the law, unlike the National Do Not Call registry which requires re-registration five years after the initial registration.    » read more »

September 10, 2007, HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett today urged Pennsylvania residents to visit the Attorney General's website or call the Pennsylvania Do Not Call hotline by Saturday, September 15, in order to maintain their listing on the state's Do Not Call list.    » read more »