The Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) temporarily stopped five Arizona-
and Florida-based companies from making robocalls that allegedly defrauded consumers
of hundreds of thousands of dollars by promising to reduce the consumers' credit
card interest rates for fees ranging from several hundred to several thousand
dollars.
But, the
companies did "little, if anything, to fulfill their promises," the
FTC said.
Federal
courts have granted the FTC's request to temporarily block the operations,
which allegedly made millions of illegal pre-recorded calls from
"Rachel," or "Cardholder Services."
"At
the FTC, Rachel from Cardholder Services is public enemy number one," FTC
chairman Jon Leibowitz said. He said his agency is "cracking down on
illegal robocalls by bringing law enforcement actions and pursuing technical
solutions to the problem."
