Feds Pull Plug on Telemarketer Scammers

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."