Just hang up if you receive a robocall. <\/p>\n
An illegal robocalling scheme that bombarded consumers with 12 million to 15 million robocalls a day using political surveys to sell Florida cruise line vacations to the Bahamas has reached its final chapter. <\/p>\n
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Federal Trade Commission and nine other state attorneys general Tuesday announced the entry of the last consent judgment shutting down the illegal scheme. <\/p>\n
The unlawful telemarketing campaign flooded consumers from across the country with billions of unwanted robocalls and generated millions of dollars for the companies. <\/p>\n
The fifth and final consent judgment announced Tuesday bars owner Fred Accuardi and his companies from assisting or participating in actions that violate telemarketing laws. <\/p>\n
In 2015, Bondi, in partnership with the FTC and other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., a marketing company, as well as seven other companies, for alleged involvement in a scheme that used political survey robocalls to illegally sell cruise vacations. The joint complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale. <\/p>\n
Consumers who answered these calls typically heard a pre-recorded message telling them they had been selected to participate in a 30-second research survey, after which they would receive a free two-day cruise to the Bahamas. <\/p>\n
In reality the calls were designed to market Caribbean Cruise Lines cruises and various up-sell packages, the FTC said. <\/p>\n
The complaint alleged that the defendants robocalls violated both Florida and federal law by unlawfully using political surveys as a pretext to place sales calls pitching Bahamas cruises and related vacation packages to individuals on do-not-call lists and other individuals they were prohibited from calling. <\/p>\n
Accuardi and his companies allegedly assisted and facilitated the illegal calls by providing robocallers with hundreds of telephone numbers. The defendants also allegedly made it possible for robocallers to change their caller identification information, funded a portion of the robocalling campaigns, and hid the robocallers identities from authorities. <\/p>\n
In addition to barring Accuardi and his businesses from illegal telemarketing, the consent judgment imposes a judgment of $1.35 million, which will be suspended after the defendants pay $2,500. If the court finds that the defendants misrepresented their financial condition, the entire judgment will become due. <\/p>\n
Florida and the FTC led the joint action and were joined by attorneys general in Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Washington. <\/p>\n
The robocall campaign ran from October 2011 through July 2012. <\/p>\n
To view the consent judgment, click here. <\/p>\n
To view the order approving the consent judgment, click here. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Robocall scheme that sold Bahamas cruises is in permanent dry dock - MyPalmBeachPost (blog)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just hang up if you receive a robocall. An illegal robocalling scheme that bombarded consumers with 12 million to 15 million robocalls a day using political surveys to sell Florida cruise line vacations to the Bahamas has reached its final chapter. Continue reading