Updated: 8:15 PM CDT May 12, 2021
MINNEAPOLIS — All across the country people got phone calls from call centers in places like Fridley, St. Louis Park and South St. Paul. On the other end of the line, a caller pretended to be offering a chance to save money.
But federal indictments laying out the alleged scheme say the real goal was to trick people into paying for magazines they didn’t want or need.
And it worked, federal officials say, to the tune of $300 million.
“The magazine fraud was out and out fraud,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson. “They were straight up lying to people.”