At the request of the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the Florida Attorney General, a U.S. district court has temporarily halted and frozen the assets of an Orlando-based operation that used pre-recorded telephone calls, commonly known as robocalls, to pitch purportedly “free” medical alert devices to senior citizens by falsely representing that the devices had been purchased for them by a relative or friend. The defendants also allegedly led consumers to believe that the devices were endorsed by various health organizations and that they would not be charged anything before the devices were activated.
“These telemarketers used illegal robocalls to make a sales pitch that was 100 percent false,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “They lied about the product, about whether health organizations had endorsed it, and about its cost. And all the while, their M.O. was to take advantage of older people’s concerns about their health. We’re so glad to work with our partners in Florida to stop this fraud.”
Read the full press release on the FTC website