United States - At FTC's Request, Telemarketer Ordered to Pay $5.1 Million to Reimburse Victims of Car-Buying Scam

A federal court has ordered a Canadian telemarketer and four companies he owns to pay more than $5.1 million to American and Canadian consumers who were duped in a car-buying scam.  Consumers paid hundreds of dollars based on false claims that the defendants had buyers lined up for their cars, and that refunds would be provided if the cars weren’t sold.  According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants called consumers who listed vehicles for sale on websites such as craigslist.org or ebay.com.  In those calls, they falsely claimed that, in exchange for a fee, typically $399, they would put the consumer in touch with a buyer, often telling consumers they had undervalued the vehicle and that the price the buyer was willing to pay would cover the defendants’ fee.  In addition to the $5.1 payment, the court order permanently bans the defendants from telemarketing and payment processing and bars them from making misrepresentations.  The FTC received assistance from the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority, British Columbia, Canada, in this matter.