In 2010 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtained a permanent injunction against Publishers Business Services and its officers, shutting down its illegal magazine telemarketing scam.  Publishers Business Services called its victims pretending to conduct a survey.  At the end of the phony survey they offered free or low-cost magazine subscriptions, but within weeks billed their victims hundreds of dollars for the magazine subscriptions.  Now the FTC got a further court order holding the officers of Publishers Business Services financially responsible for their scam.

TIPS

The best way to protect yourself and members of your family, particularly older family members from scams like this is to enroll in the federal Do Not Call List.  When you register your phone number with the Do Not Call list it becomes illegal for telemarketers to contact you by phone.  The Do Not Call list does not apply to charities so you still may be contacted by charities even if you have registered for the Do Not Call list. However, when you receive a call from someone purporting to be representing a charity, you can never be sure who is really calling so you should never give your credit card number to someone who calls you allegedly from a charity. If you are interested in a particular charity, contact the charity directly to make your contribution.

Here is the link to take you to the Federal Do Not Call list where you can register your phone. https://www.donotcall.gov/

If you are registered for the Do Not Call list and you do receive a call from a telemarketer, you can be confident that the call is a scam because no legitimate telemarketer would call you if you are enrolled in the Do Not Call list.

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