The FTC revealed today that it has shut down a sweepstakes scam that had collected more than $28 million from customers in the United States and throughout the world.
The FTC first filed a lawsuit against the sweepstakes program’s proprietors, Matthew Pisoni, Marcus Pradel, and John Leon, in 2015. They would inform customers that they had won significant prizes, frequently in excess of $2 million, but that they needed to pay a $20 to $30 charge within 10 days or forfeit the money. Over time, that amounted to more than $28 million raised, but the entity, according to the FCC, had no affiliation with any sweepstakes and could not award or pay anyone the promised prizes.
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“While these settlements will keep these defendants from harming more consumers with bogus prize claims, they will not, unfortunately, return money to consumers,” stated Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Since the action was first filed, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the AMG Capital Management case has destroyed our ability to return the money taken from consumers. It is critical that Congress restore the Commission’s jurisdiction to compensate consumers who are targeted by scammers.”
Under this agreement, the group is prohibited from running any future contests or prize promotions that inform consumers that they have won or are eligible to win a reward. Furthermore, the agreements restrict the three defendants from engaging in any similar fraud in connection with any product or service, as well as from using any customer information obtained through the sweepstakes scam. Unfortunately, no reimbursements were announced as part of this deal.
Scams like this are getting more common, so keep your guard up.
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