National Debt Consolidation Scheme Misleads Consumers About Costs, Benefits, and Nonprofit Status, FTC Says
January 16, 2007 by Bill
Filed under Finance/Credit, Law, Scams & Frauds
A nationwide debt consolidation business violated federal law by misleading and illegally telemarketing millions of consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking consumer redress in federal district court, a freeze of the operation’s assets, and an end to its illegal practices.
According to the FTC’s complaint, a scheme that bills itself as “America’s Premier Debt Consolidation Company” is violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), led by a Florida attorney who is using a sham nonprofit company to violate telemarketing rules that exempt legitimate nonprofit entities.
Sphere: Related ContentFTC Sues Payment Processor That Took Millions From Consumer Bank Accounts Without Their Knowledge
January 16, 2007 by Bill
Filed under Finance/Credit, Law, Scams & Frauds
A payment processor violated federal law when it debited, or tried to debit, more than $9.9 million from consumers’ bank accounts – at $139 each – without their approval, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
According to a complaint the FTC filed in federal court, Nevada-based InterBill Ltd. acted on behalf of a fraudulent enterprise known as “Pharmacycards.com.” In 2004 the FTC charged Pharmacycards with debiting millions of dollars from consumers’ checking accounts, without their consent, for nonexistent “discount pharmacy cards.”
Sphere: Related ContentVioxx Nationwide Class Certification Denied
From Brian Wolfman at CL&P Blog:
Judge Eldon Fallon of the U.S. District Court in New Orleans, who is presiding over the Multidistrict Litigation of thousands of Vioxx injury cases, has denied the plaintiffs' request for nationwide class certification. The plaintiffs argued for nationwide certification on the ground that the substantive law of New Jersey, where the defendant is located, should be applied to all plaintiffs' claims no matter where the plaintiffs lived or ingested Vioxx.Sphere: Related Content
Court Finds Fraudsters Guilty of Civil Contempt, Liable for $2.37 Million
November 27, 2006 by Bill
Filed under Law, Scams & Frauds
Defendants Violated Prior FTC Order Barring Sales Misrepresentations
The Federal Trade Commission today announced that a U.S. district court judge in Nashville, Tennessee, has ruled Timothy Scott Jackson, Dora Helena Ortegon, and GIS, Inc. (GIS), guilty of civil contempt for violating a 2001 court order. According to the court, in misrepresenting the benefit to be gained from using government information packages sold through GIS from 2004 to 2005, Jackson violated the order, which had been sought by the FTC.
Sphere: Related ContentFTC Permanently Halts Unlawful Spyware Operations
Defendants involved with operations that secretly downloaded spyware that changed settings on consumers’ computers, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their practices violated federal law. The settlements bar secret software downloads in the future, bar the operators from exploiting security vulnerabilities to download software, and bar misrepresentations. In addition, the operators will give up a total of $50,000 in ill-gotten gains.
Sphere: Related ContentCourt Shuts Down Media Motor Spyware Operation
Trojan Program Downloaded Spyware, Adware, Porno Pop-Ups to Consumers’ Computers
A U.S. district court has shut down an operation that secretly downloaded multiple malevolent software programs, including spyware, onto millions of computers without consumers’ consent, degrading their computers’ performance, spying on them, and exposing them to a barrage of disruptive advertisements. The Federal Trade Commission has asked the court to order a permanent halt to these deceptive and unfair downloads, and to order the outfit to give up its ill-gotten gains.
The FTC charged ERG Ventures, LLC and one of its affiliates with tricking consumers into downloading malevolent software by hiding the Media Motor program within seemingly innocuous free software, including screensavers and video files. Once downloaded, the Media Motor program silently activates itself and downloads “malware” – software that is intrusive, disruptive, and makes it difficult for consumers to use their computers. Among other effects, the malware installed by the Media Motor program:
Sphere: Related ContentMarketer Settles With FTC for Sending Unwanted E-Mails
A company that sent unsolicited commercial e-mail after consumers asked it to stop has agreed to pay a $50,717 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law.
The FTC charged Yesmail Inc., doing business as @Once Corporation, with sending e-mail on behalf of its clients more than 10 business days after recipients had asked it to stop. According to the FTC’s complaint, Yesmail offers e-mail marketing services, including sending commercial e-mail and processing unsubscribe requests from recipients. The FTC’s complaint alleges that Yesmail’s spam filtering software filtered out certain “reply to” unsubscribe requests from recipients as “spam,” which resulted in Yesmail failing to honor unsubscribe requests by sending thousands of commercial e-mail messages to recipients more than 10 business days after their requests.
Sphere: Related ContentZango, Inc. Settles FTC Charges
Will Give Up $3 Million in Ill-Gotten Gains for Unfair and Deceptive Adware Downloads
Zango, Inc., formerly known as 180solutions, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of adware, and two principals have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they used unfair and deceptive methods to download adware and obstruct consumers from removing it, in violation of federal law. The settlement bars future downloads of Zango’s adware without consumers’ consent, requires Zango to provide a way for consumers to remove the adware, and requires them to give up $3 million in ill-gotten gains.
"Consumers' computers belong to them, and they shouldn't have to accept any content they don’t want," said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "If consumers choose to receive pop-up ads, so be it. But it violates federal law to secretly install software that forces consumers to get pop-ups that disrupt their computer use."
Sphere: Related ContentTelephone Record Seller Settles FTC Charges
Settlement Bars Defendants From Pretexting and Selling Consumers’ Phone Records; Defendants Will Give Up Ill-Gotten Gains
An Internet business that advertised and sold consumers’ phone records and records of credit card accounts to third parties has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. The settlement bars the defendants from obtaining or selling consumers’ confidential phone and credit account records unless authorized by law or court order’ and requires that they give up the money they made selling phone records in the past.
Sphere: Related ContentCourt Halts Illegal Operations of Online Check Processing Firm
October 10, 2006 by Bill
Filed under Law, Scams & Frauds
Qchex, an Internet-based check creation and delivery service, has agreed to a temporary restraining order to halt its unfair business practices. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the Federal Trade Commission charged that Qchex creates and sends checks drawn on any bank account identified by a Qchex customer without verifying that the customer has authority to write checks drawn on that account. As a result, con artists have used the Qchex service to draw checks on bank accounts that belong to others. According to the FTC, Qchex’s practices have harmed both innocent account holders whose bank accounts have been debited, and individuals and businesses who received fraudulent Qchex checks as payment for goods and services. The agency alleges the practices violate federal law, and has asked the court to order a permanent halt to the illegal operation, and to order the defendants to give up their ill-gotten gains. Read more
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