Feds, States Shut Down Charity Telefunding Fraud
March 9, 2021
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with 46 agencies from 38 states and the District of Columbia D.C., stopped a massive telefunding operation that hit 67 million consumers with 1.3 billion allegedly deceptive charitable fundraising calls. Most of the calls were illegal robocalls.
The defendants collected more than $110 million using their deceptive solicitations.
Associated Community Services (ACS) and related defendants have agreed to settle charges by the FTC and state agencies that they duped donors into giving to charities that failed to provide the services they promised. The complaint names ACS and its sister companies Central Processing Services and Community Services Appeal; their owners, Dick Cole, Bill Burland, Barbara Cole, and Amy Burland; and ACS senior managers Nikole Gilstorf, Tony Lia, John Lucidi, and Scot Stepek. In addition, the complaint names two fundraising companies allegedly operat
ATLANTA – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, along with the Federal Trade Commission and 46 agencies from 37 states and the District of Columbia, has stopped a massive telefunding operation
Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Federal Trade Commission, along with regulators from 38 states and the District of Columbia, announced a settlement with 13 defendants over a national charitable fundraising operation that bombarded 67 million individuals across the country with approximately 1.3 billion deceptive fundraising calls, most of which were illegal robocalls.