Government Enforcement Actions

March 5, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office announced the filing of four complaints involving deceptive marketing and sales of computer software and tech support services to Florida consumers, many of whom are senior citizens. The call centers allegedly used deceptive marketing, such as pop up ads warning of viruses or other malware, to lead consumers to call these companies who were then directed through scare tactics to pay for unnecessary computer repairs and support services. Consumers typically paid from $99 to $600 to resolve non-existent computer issues. The companies involved included ASAP Tech Help, LLC, E-Racer Tech, LLC, Protech Support, LLC (d/b/a Rapid Tech Support), and Techfix USA, LLC (d/b/a PC Smart Support and First Class Tech Support). FL

March 5, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman along with the Federal Trade Commission announced an $8 million settlement with Allstar Marketing Group, LLC that requires the direct marketing firm to stop using allegedly deceptive and misleading advertising and ordering processes when selling a variety of products, such as the Snuggie, the Perfect Brownie Pan and the Magic Mesh screen. According to NY, Allstar ran misleading infomercials that featured attractively priced offers for products to lure consumers to place orders and then used deceptive and confusing ordering processes, that resulted in consumers being charged excessive and unauthorized fees and charges. NY

March 5, 2015

Acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced that ExxonMobil agreed to pay the State $225 million to resolve its liability for damage to the environment and injury to natural resources caused by contamination from its refinery operations in Bayonne and Linden, as well as from company service stations and other facilities located throughout New Jersey. NJ

March 5, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced settlements with home security system providers Security Networks, LLC and Vision Security, LLC to resolve allegations they made false or misleading statements in door-to-door sales of security alarm systems. These misrepresentations included that the companies were affiliated with the consumers’ current security monitoring companies and that the consumers’ products were outdated, in need of upgrades or that the consumers’ current monitoring companies were going out of business. FL

March 4, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission have taken action to stop multiple companies engaging in an illegal robocalling operation using political surveys to sell cruise line vacations. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., a marketing company, and seven associated companies participated in CCL’s massive robocalling scheme that allegedly circumvented telemarketing laws and made unlawful sales calls to consumers on the Do Not Call Registry. Florida led a coalition of ten attorneys general and joined the FTC in their investigative efforts to shut down this illegal operation that averaged 12 to 15 million illegal sales calls a day and generated millions of dollars for the companies. FL

March 3, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit arrested Christopher A. Days, owner of Better Days of North Central Florida, LLC., for more than $65,000 in Medicaid fraud for billing for services not rendered and failing to properly document for services rendered. FL

March 3, 2015

The CFTC announced that a complaint it filed under seal on February 25, 2015, charges Jerry Stauffer of Traverse City, Michigan, with fraudulently soliciting close to $1 million from the public to trade foreign exchange in a commodity pool by guaranteeing pool participants a monthly return on their investment based on profits purportedly earned from forex trading.  CFTC

March 3, 2015

A New York federal court ordered Mark Evan Bloom of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, and his firm North Hills Management, LLC to pay a $26 million civil monetary penalty for operating a fraudulent commodity pool called North Hills LP and misappropriating customer funds.  CFTC

March 2, 2015

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a lawsuit against BP Inc. for wrongfully obtaining more than $33.3 million in reimbursement to clean up leaks from BP-owned underground storage tanks in Ohio. The state alleges that BP knowingly “double dipped” — taking money both from insurers and the Petroleum Board fund that comes from fees paid by the owners of underground storage tanks, such as gas station owners — to cover the cost of correcting accidental leaks from underground storage tanks at hundreds of BP gas stations throughout Ohio. OH

February 27, 2015

Identity theft topped the FTC’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year, while the agency also recorded a large increase in the number of complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, according to the FTC’s 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. FTC