Pennsylvania AG Shapiro announces crackdown on telefunding scam
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced a settlement involving a fraudulent telefunding operation that swindled millions of Americans out of money under the pretense of fundraising for charities.
Since 2008, Associated Community Services (ACS) collected more than $110 million by bombarding more than 67 million Americans with 1.3 billion deceptive phone calls on behalf of organizations claiming to support breast cancer patients, victims of house fires, children with autism, homeless veterans, and other charitable causes, according to a news release from Shapiro’s office.
“The settlement will ensure that this scam gets hung up on permanently, that the recovered money gets properly allocated, and that the shareholders of these companies are never able to prey on Pennsylvanians again,” Shapiro said.
Pennsylvanians were hit with more than 61 million calls from Jan. 1, 2016, through Aug. 31, 2019, with thousands of phone numbers called multiple times per week, day, and even hour, the news release stated.
Older adults are frequently targeted in telemarketing charity scams.
“AARP applauds the action taken by Attorney General Shapiro and federal officials to stop a huge telephone charity scam operation that has plagued Pennsylvania residents for years,” AARP Pennsylvania State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh said.
The Shapiro’s office, the Federal Trade Commission, and 46 agencies from 37 states and the District of Columbia entered into the settlement with ACS and related defendants.
It is alleged that ACS kept up to 85% of the money raised and was aware that the organizations they fundraised for spent as little as 0.1% of the proceeds on charitable donations.
Per the settlement, operations have been dissolved and ACS shareholders are banned from future telemarketing.
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