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.”
How a Nationwide Scam Entrenched in Minnesota Stole Millions from Seniors
You wonât believe what Minnesota prosecutors heard when they dialed up some of the most ruthless scam artists to call Minnesota home.
Phone Scam Photoillustration
About a dozen years ago, Joseph L., age 70, entered a sweepstakes that included a three-year magazine subscription package with two years free plus a complimentary watch. Seemed like a good deal to the retired utility company worker in New Jersey. Instead, the offer turned into a decade of misery. He started getting phone calls offering a reduction on his $49.90 monthly payments, but after agreeing to the reduced payments, he spotted new charges on his credit card statement from magazine companies he didnât recognize. By April 2011, seven different companies charged him a total of more than $1,350 for that month alone.