Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Courtesy photo

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that victims of unlawful telemarketing scams could expect to get some of their money back.

A news release from the attorney general's office said Moody and the Federal Trade Commission had successfully recovered funds from businesses operating illegal robocall schemes designed to trick callers into putting their money into fraudulent programs. The victims, often seniors, were misled to believe they were participating in credit card interest rate reduction and debt-relief plans.

“With the assistance of Florida law enforcement, our Consumer Protection Division and the FTC shut down this illegal robocall operation that inundated consumers with millions of unwanted calls, tricking them into purchasing fraudulent financial services,” Moody said in a statement. “I am very pleased that we have recovered funds and are now able to provide refunds to the victims, many of whom are seniors.”

Moody and the federal agency obtained a permanent injunction against the parties behind the racket in 2017, preventing them from perpetuating the operation and offering their services. Consumers often found themselves charged $300 to $4,999 by Orlando-based scammer All Us Marketing, also known as Payless Solutions, for services that were either worthless or to which they had not consented. The FTC will be mailing 305 checks totaling $314,945 to victims of the fraud.

Orlando lawyer Fritz Scheller represented Shirin Imani, an officer with All Us Marketing who was named as a defendant in the case against the company. The attorney told the Daily Business Review his client “fully assisted the government in its efforts.”

Read the complaint:

The announcement is Moody's latest volley against illegal telemarketing operations. Earlier in May, she joined a coalition of more than 40 attorneys general from around the U.S. asking the Federal Communications Commission to implement rules against phone spoofers.

Miami attorney Matthew Deblinger knows the troubles deceptive telemarketing can cause firsthand, as his law firm, Aballi Milne Kalil, had its phone number spoofed by international racketeers. Although his firm was able to obtain a $13 million judgment against the parties responsible, he said “a lot of people don't realize there are civil ways to go about this,” and acknowledged not all victims of these schemes have the same resources at their disposal as Aballi Milne Kalil.

“Robocallers have long operated under the belief that they are untraceable, with many of them calling over one million different phone numbers a week,” Deblinger said. “That is no longer the case. … By enacting legislation establishing phone spoofing as a clear submission to the courts of each state, as well as providing specific civil penalties per call, we believe we will empower victims to effectively fight back.”

He added, “Robocallers are doing this for money. If there is comprehensive monetary penalties on the civil level, we can stop them.”

Related stories:

Judge OKs $1.35M Consent Judgment in Robocall Case

First a Nightmare, Then Nearly $13M for a Miami Law Firm Targeted by Fraudsters

AGs Urge FCC to Block Robocalls