http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/02/premierbenefits.htm "For Release: Feburary 28, 2006 FTC Obtains Injunction Against the Companies Running the ââ?¬Å?Wal-Mart Shopping Spreeââ?¬Â Scam Defendants Took Cash from Consumersââ?¬â?¢ Bank Accounts Without Their Express Informed Consent The Federal Trade Commission today announced it has obtained a temporary restraining order against a group of defendants running what has become known as the ââ?¬Å?Wal-Mart Shopping Spreeââ?¬Â scam. The order prohibits the defendants from making misrepresentations to consumers and from engaging in deceptive or abusive telemarketing practices, freezes the defendantsââ?¬â?¢ assets, and appoints a temporary receiver over the corporate defendants. The FTCââ?¬â?¢s complaint, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, alleges that the defendants cold-call consumers falsely promising them valuable incentives such as gift cards, ââ?¬Å?shopping sprees,ââ?¬Â movie passes, and gas vouchers, purportedly worth $200 to $500, for a nominal shipping and handling fee, in order to induce the consumers to disclose their bank account information. Once the defendants have this information, they allegedly engage in deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices to coerce consumers to pay additional charges for memberships in purported discount buying programs. In many cases, the FTC contends the defendants harass consumers by calling them repeatedly and threatening them until they relent and give purported authorization for the defendants to debit their accounts. The defendants also allegedly do not allow consumers to cancel the charges until they complete a recorded authorization process. In many cases, consumers learn about these additional debits for the first time when they are notified by their banks that the withdrawals have been made. The FTC contends that Defendants operated this scam through a series of corporate shells in order to prolong the life of their scam despite large numbers of consumer complaints and law enforcement inquiries. " ... "This is the first time, since establishing the National Do Not Call Registry, that the Commission has sued to enforce consumersââ?¬â?¢ entity-specific do-not-call rights, without also alleging the telemarketer has violated the Registry. Regardless of whether consumers have placed their telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, they have the right to tell specific companies not to call them again."
