Phoenix Telemarketing Companies Shut Down for Consumer Fraud
If you or someone you know is ever the victim of consumer fraud you can contact the Arizona Attorney General’s Office or for more serious cases can secure the services of a competent lawyer.
Fraud is deliberate deception in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain. Consumer fraud is one aspect of fraud that can impacts consumers in whatever consumer activities they engage in. Consumer fraud can occur in so many ways including through telemarketing, counterfeit goods, failure to deliver promised services or quality of services, bait and switch tactics, etc. Unfortunately, fraud is often hard to prosecute as clear and convincing evidence has to be provided. In addition, most fraud occurs at the individual level and is therefore difficult to gather the critical mass of complaints needed to prove and prosecute.
A recent article in the Arizona Republic discusses a consumer scam targeting Arizona seniors that might just get your blood boiling. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office recently shut down three supposed charities that really turned out to be telemarketing scams targeting seniors and those with memory impairments. All three companies were owned by the same gentleman. These ‘charitable’ organizations used aggressive telemarketing tactics to sell standard household products at exorbitant markups and claimed that the proceeds would be used to support veteran’s charities. Can you guess if any of that money ever made it to any charities? Nope, none ever did.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office gathered evidence and eventually shut these companies down. The owner has admitted to violating the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, Telephone Solicitation Statute, and that he failed to register with the state as a telephone solicitor. In all he will be required to pay more than $105,000 to victims and as customer restitution. However, this number pales in contrast to the roughly $750,000 his companies took in over the course of two years. Happily, no further seniors will fall prey to these particular telemarketing companies.