The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that the operators of a telemarketing scheme charged with bilking millions of dollars from consumers, many of whom are seniors or military veterans on fixed income, will pay approximately $7.5 million in consumer redress under a settlement with the FTC.
The stipulated final order also prohibits the defendants – who operated under names such as Building Money, Prime Cash, Wyze Money, and Titan Income – from telemarketing, marketing investment opportunities, and selling or otherwise benefiting from consumers’ personal information.
In October 2016, the FTC filed a federal court complaint alleging that the defendants sold bogus online investment opportunities to people across the nation. The descriptions of the “opportunity” varied, but typically involved buying or investing in e-commerce related websites, or participating in a profit-sharing program involving credit card companies and e-commerce websites. The defendants got hefty payments from consumers – some exceeded $20,000.
The full FTC press release is here.
