{"id":43510,"date":"2024-01-02T18:43:38","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T23:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d56fg8tfg.fitnews.club\/finance\/california-based-lead-generator-agrees-to-settlement-banning-it-from-making-or-assisting-others-in-making-telemarketing-calls-including-robocalls\/"},"modified":"2024-01-02T18:43:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T23:43:38","slug":"california-based-lead-generator-agrees-to-settlement-banning-it-from-making-or-assisting-others-in-making-telemarketing-calls-including-robocalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d56fg8tfg.fitnews.club\/finance\/california-based-lead-generator-agrees-to-settlement-banning-it-from-making-or-assisting-others-in-making-telemarketing-calls-including-robocalls\/","title":{"rendered":"California-based Lead Generator Agrees to Settlement Banning It from Making or Assisting Others in Making Telemarketing Calls, Including Robocalls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Thomas Doherty, will be banned from making or assisting anyone else in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC\u2019s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under a proposed order settling Federal Trade Commission charges that they operated more than 50 websites designed to trick consumers into providing their personal information for supposed mortgage refinancing loans and other services.<\/p>\n

The defendants allegedly sold the personal information of hundreds of thousands of consumers as leads to telemarketers who used them to make millions of illegal telemarketing calls, including robocalls, to consumers nationwide.<\/p>\n

Telemarketing campaigns allegedly assisted and facilitated by the defendants\u2019 illegal lead generation operations were used to sell a multitude of products and services, including solar panels, hearing aids, and extended auto warranties. These campaigns, which made robocalls and calls to numbers on the DNC Registry, were illegal, as the telemarketers did not have consumers\u2019 consent to be called, according to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on referral from the FTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cResponse Tree fueled millions of illegal telemarketing calls by tricking consumers into turning over their personal information and selling that information to telemarketers,\u201d said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. \u201cThe FTC will continue to target every corner of the illegal telemarketing ecosystem to protect consumers and hold wrongdoers accountable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The complaint<\/a>\u00a0alleges that the defendants\u2019 websites\u2014including PatriotRefi.com, AbodeDefense.com, and TheRetailRewards.com\u2014were actually \u201cconsent farms\u201d that used deceptive and manipulative \u201cdark patterns\u201d to induce consumers to provide their personal information, obscuring hard-to-find and inadequate disclosures about how the information would be used. The defendants claimed that, in providing this information, the consumers consented to receive telemarketing calls. Third parties then bought the defendants\u2019 leads and used the personal information to conduct illegal telemarketing campaigns, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Through their PatriotRefi.com website, for example, the defendants allegedly duped consumers into providing their personal information under the guise of requesting a quote for a home mortgage refinance loan. After consumers input their personal information and clicked a button labeled \u201cGET YOUR FAST FREE QUOTE,\u201d the defendants captured the information and stored it in a database to sell to telemarketers and others.<\/p>\n

Many or all consumers who provided their personal information to PatriotRefi.com never received home refinance quotes, according to the complaint. Instead, PatriotRefi.com was designed to compile lead lists by harvesting and selling consumers\u2019 personal information without consumers\u2019 informed consent. The complaint further alleges the defendants sold the leads they obtained, knowing that they did not obtain the requisite consent to receive telemarketing calls, including robocalls.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, at their peak, the defendants\u2019 consent farm operations offered an average of 10,000 \u201creal-time\u201d leads for sale every day, and on some days had up to 50,000 illegally farmed leads for sale. In all, between 2019 and 2022, Response Tree and Doherty sold millions of deceptively collected leads.<\/p>\n

The proposed order<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>settling the complaint, which must be approved by the court before it can go into effect, bans the defendants from initiating or helping anyone else initiate telemarketing robocalls. It also bans them from calling, or assisting anyone else in calling, phone numbers on the DNC Registry and from selling, transferring, or disclosing consumer information in connection with lead generation activities.<\/p>\n

The order also imposes a $7 million judgment against the defendants, which will be suspended based on their inability to pay. If they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition, however, the full amount will immediately become due.<\/p>\n

The Commission vote approving the complaint and stipulated final order and referring it to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for filing was 3-0. The DOJ filed the complaint and proposed final order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Central District of California.<\/p>\n

The staff attorneys on this matter are Karina A. Layugan, Matthew H. Fine, and Jeffrey Tang of the FTC\u2019s Western Region Los Angeles office.<\/p>\n

NOTE: <\/b>The Commission files a complaint when it has \u201creason to believe\u201d that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Official news published at https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2024\/01\/california-based-lead-generator-agrees-settlement-banning-it-making-or-assisting-others-making <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Thomas Doherty, will be banned from making or assisting anyone else in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC\u2019s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under a proposed order settling Federal Trade Commission charges that they operated more than 50 websites designed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[373],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t