FTC....Robocalls Illegal

FTC Action Puts Robocallers Out of the Telemarketing Business

Defendants Allegedly Responsible for Billions of Calls; Will Give Up Assets Totaling Roughly $3 Million

The Federal Trade Commission put a robocall operation out of the telemarketing business under a settlement resolving FTC charges that it bombarded consumers with more than two billion calls pitching a variety of products and services, including worthless extended auto warranties and credit card interest rate-reduction programs.

The final settlement order against SBN Peripherals, based near Los Angeles, which did business as Asia Pacific Telecom Inc., is part of the FTC's ongoing crackdown on deceptive robocallers. The order bans the defendants from telemarketing and requires them to give up roughly $3 million in assets.

The FTC's complaint alleged that the defendants delivered illegal prerecorded phone calls falsely claiming the caller had urgent information about the consumer's auto warranty or credit card interest rate. Consumers who pressed "1" for more information were transferred to telemarketers who used fraudulent practices to sell inferior extended auto service contracts or worthless debt-reduction services. According to court papers filed by the court-appointed receiver, from January 2008 through August 2009, the defendants completed approximately 2.6 billion outbound robocalls that were answered by approximately 1.6 billion consumers, approximately 12.8 million of whom were connected to a sales agent.

As alleged in the complaint, the defendants violated the law by using robocalls to contact consumers without their written permission and called telephones listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. To make it difficult for consumers to identify the seller, the FTC also alleged that the defendants' robocalls often transmitted caller ID information vaguely identifying the caller as "SALES DEPT" and displaying telephone numbers registered to an offshore company it controlled called Asia Pacific Telecom.

Under the proposed settlement order, Repo B.V.; SBN Peripherals Inc., doing business as SBN Dials; Johan Hendrik Smit Duyzentkunst; and Janneke Bakker-Smit Duyzentkunst are banned from telemarketing. The order also prohibits them from misrepresenting any good or service, and from selling or otherwise benefitting from customers' personal information, and requires them to properly dispose of customers' personal information within 30 days. The order imposes a $5.3 million judgment that will be suspended, based on their inability to pay, when they have surrendered assets valued at approximately $3 million, including more than $1 million obtained from a bank account in Hong Kong, a $375,000 lien on a home, a 50 percent interest in an office building in Saipan, the defendants' interest in seven parcels of undeveloped land, as well as three cars and a recreational vehicle. The full judgment will become due immediately if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.

The Commission vote approving the proposed consent order was 4-0. It is subject to court approval. The FTC filed the proposed consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

To hear telemarketing sales pitches used in this case, clickAuto Warranty audio 1, Auto Warranty audio 2, Credit Card audio 1, and Credit Card audio 2.

To learn more about telemarketing scams, read Who's Calling? Recognize and Report Phone Fraud, You Make the Call: The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the FTC's new consumer alert, Robocalls are Illegal: Scammers Use False Caller IDs to Hide. The FTC also offers How to Steer Clear of Auto Warranty Scams and Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction Scams. To inform business owners, the FTC offers Reining in Robocalls and Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

NOTE: This consent order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendants that the law has been violated. Consent orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC's website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Frank Dorman
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STAFF CONTACT:

Steven M. Wernikoff
FTC's Midwest Region
312-960-5634

Joint Base provides guidance, support to FEMA response team

Photos 1 of 5 Members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency board a 305th Air Mobility Wing C-17 Globemaster III during a mobility exercise March 20, 2012, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Approximately 30 incident management assistance team members from FEMA Region II, based in New York, N.Y., and FEMA Region III, from Philadelphia, Pa., simulated a hurricane response deployment to Puerto Rico with the help of the 621st Contingency Response Wing and the 305th Air Mobility Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres) Download HiRes http://www.jointbasemdl.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123294970 by Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs 3/22/2012 - JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Airmen from three wings across Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst came together March 20 through 23 to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency with an Operational Readiness Exercise here. Approximately 30 incident management assistance team members from FEMA Region II, based in New York, N.Y., and FEMA Region III, from Philadelphia, Pa., converged on the 621st Contingency Response Wing's Global Reach Deployment Center for a simulated hurricane response deployment to Puerto Rico. This exercise was observed for training by members of FEMA's National IMAT based in Herndon, Va., and by members of New York City's Urban Search and Rescue Team. "We hope to gain familiarity with DOD procedures in the event we use military airlift to respond to a disaster," said Mike Sharon, FEMA Region III IMAT leader. "For example, the security and specialized loading requirements are completely different than if we were to show up at Philadelphia International Airport." "If FEMA needs to use military airlift in the future, we would most likely be flying out of (JB MDL), so learning the layout of the base now will save valuable time in a real-world emergency," Sharon added. IMATs are FEMA's rapidly deployable emergency response teams. These full-time, rapid-response cells have a dedicated staff able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support a local incident commander. They support the initial establishment of a unified command and provide situational awareness for federal and state decision-makers, crucial to determining the level and type of immediate federal support that may be required. The seeds for this interagency training and mobility partnership exercise began back in 2010, explains Master Sgt. Steve Dirksen, 621st CRW affiliation lead and wing plans superintendent. "The 621st CRW has been teaching load planning, pallet buildup, weighing and cargo marking to FEMA and other federal partners since 2010," said Dirksen. "Recently, they called us and asked if they could come out and put their military airlift plans into action. We agreed, and felt it was a great opportunity to strengthen our training partnership." Soon, a plan came together that would test the mobility processes of FEMA and call upon an increasing number of Joint Base resources. Just as it would in a real-world deployment, the 87th Air Base Wing Deployment Control Center stood up; they became the base focal point responsible for coordinating the flow of information, passengers and cargo between FEMA, the CRW and the 305th Air Mobility Wing. "A lack of user expertise and cargo preparation knowledge often delays the joint inspection process, potentially leading to late aircraft departures," said Karen Lamphere, 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron installation deployment officer. "Working closely with our federal partners during exercises like this is essential to preventing delays during an actual mobilization." Airmen from the CRW were tasked to provide cargo preparation and joint inspection expertise and a sheltered working area for FEMA to set up a mobile command center and test its equipment, explains Tech. Sgt. David Lund, 621st CRW wing plans NCO in charge. Two IMAT response vehicles full of equipment were then processed for air shipment by members of the 305th Aerial Port Squadron and loaded onto a 305th AMW C-17 Globemaster III to provide familiarity with military cargo procedures to the FEMA observers. Finally, all exercise participants boarded the cargo-loaded C-17 and were provided a safety and familiarization briefing. The entire process was helpful and informative, said Michael Anama, FEMA Region II equipment manager. "We are finding and fixing a number of kinks in the process, but have had no real surprises," said Anama. "By the end of this week, I'm sure we will have a lot more information we can use to streamline our internal procedures and work more efficiently with the DOD airlift system on future deployments." For the FEMA IMAT leadership, seeing it all come together was a rewarding and eye-opening experience. "It's been a great partnership and we enjoyed the opportunity for our civilian personnel to go through the mobility process and experience what the conditions will be like in the back of an aircraft," said Sharon. "This is the kind of real world, hands-on training we can't get in a regional office. It's just great to be out here and experience everything from start to finish."