 Appendix AFederal Trade Commission Consumer Fraud
Actions Law Enforcement Sweeps and Multiple Filings
FTC v. The Century Corp., FTC v. The Dean Thomas Corp., et al., FTC v. Image Sales & Consultants, FTC v. Southwest Marketing Concepts, Inc., et al., "Field of
Schemes" Investment Fraud Sweep: The FTC joined with the North American
Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), state securities regulators of 21 states,
the SEC and CFTC, and other agencies to bring 61 law-enforcement actions against
telemarketers of investments and pyramid schemes. FTC actions stopped over $150 million in
fraudulent sales from offerings ranging from gold-silver mines to Internet "virtual
shopping malls." FTC v. Dayton Family Productions, Inc., et al., FTC v. Equifin International, Inc., et al., FTC v. Gulfstar Corp., et al., FTC v. Intellicom Services, Inc., et al., FTC v. JewelWay International, Inc., et al., FTC v. Rocky Mountain International Silver and Gold, et
al., FTC v. Sweet Song Corp., FTC v. Tippecanoe Mining, Inc., Project
Mousetrap: The FTC, joining with the Pennsylvania and Florida Attorneys
General Offices, brought seven lawsuits against sellers of allegedly bogus "invention
promotion" services, alleging that firms made false claims regarding likely success.
These firms are believed to have sold over $100 million since the early 1990's. FTC cases
included: FTC v. Davison Associates., Inc., et al., FTC v. Eureka Solutions, FTC v. National Idea Network, et al., FTC v. National Invention Services, Inc., et al., Operation Trip Up:
The FTC joined with 12 state Attorneys General to target a wide range of alleged vacation
frauds and to implement an extensive consumer education program. Cases were filed against
alleged scams ranging from run-of-the-mill vacation certificate telemarketers and
timeshare resellers to novel variations of travel fraud, including deceptive airline
flight offers pitched to immigrants, and a new type of scam called a travel agent
"credential mill." FTC cases included: FTC v. Gold Crown Express, Inc., FTC v. Travel Bahamas Tours, Inc., FTC v. World Class Network, FTC v. Your Travels and Tours, Inc., Operation Trade
Name Games: The FTC joined with the Kansas Attorney General's Office and
seven additional states to bring over 18 enforcement actions against sellers of allegedly
fraudulent business opportunities involving the ownership of carousels displaying products
licensed by well-known companies. In many cases, sellers deliver defective or outdated
merchandise or charged retail rather than wholesale prices and purchasers are seldom if
ever able recover their investments. FTC cases included: U.S. v. Global Toy Distributors, Inc., et al., FTC v. Parade of Toys, Inc., et al., U.S. v. Toys Unlimited International, Inc., FTC v. Unitel Systems, Inc., et al., Campaņa Alerta: The FTC joined with officials from the Mexican government, the Food and Drug Administration, and seven state Attorneys General in an effort to prevent fraudulent advertisements directed at Spanish-speaking consumers. Of the five FTC cases, one was filed as a settlement in federal court--FTC v. Mountain Springs, et. al. No. 97-4649 (Jgx) (C.D. Cal. Complaint filed 6/25/97).(1)
FTC and State of Arkansas v. Surechek Systems, Inc., Operation Magazine Sales Project: The FTC
and Attorneys General from five states targeted magazine marketers who allegedly bilked
tens of thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars. The telemarketers used a
variety of schemes, from phony prize promotions to offers of "prepaid"
subscriptions. FTC and State of New Jersey v. National Scholastic
Society, Inc., FTC v. S.J.A. Society, Inc., ScholarScam
Project: The FTC, following up on its Fall 1996 "ScholarScam"
sweep, brought simultaneous actions against two sellers of allegedly spurious
scholarship services. One case also alleged false accreditation by an allegedly bogus
scholarship accreditation service. FTC v. National Scholarship Foundation, et al., Project Mail Box:
The FTC, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the National Association of Attorneys General
(NAAG), 25 state Attorneys General Offices, local law enforcement officials, and AARP
brought 190 law enforcement actions against fraudulent direct mail schemes targeted to
senior citizens. FTC brought a case in FTC v. AKOA, Inc., et al., d/b/a National PC
Systems, No. 97-7084-LGB (McX) (C.D. Cal. Complaint filed 9/25/97) (deceptive mailings
billing for unordered computer service contracts). FTC v. Audiotex Connection, Inc., FTC v. International Direct, Inc., et al., FTC v. Licensed Producers USA, Inc., FTC v. MJS Financial Services, Inc., FTC v. Nia Cano d/b/a Credit Development Int'l &
Drivers Seat Network, FTC v. Pacific Rim Pools et al., FTC v. Slim America, Inc., FTC v. Tracker Corp. of North America, FTC and State of New York v. Trans-Asian
Communications, Inc., et al., FTC v. Raymond Urso, et al., FTC v. Woofter Investment Corp., et al., 1. A number of the cases in Compaņa Alerta, though fraudulent in nature, were styled as administrative settlements and therefore are not listed or tabulated in this Report. For simplicity's sake, the Report lists only federal court cases brought under the authority of section 13(b) of the FTC Act.
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