Attorney general sues five telemarketing firms

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster yesterday filed lawsuits against five out-of-state telemarketing companies for alleged violations of Missouri's no-call law.

The suits were filed against TollFreeZone.com Inc., believed to be operating offices in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and Florida companies Innovative Wealth Builders Inc., BMV Debt Management Corp., American Credit Counselors and A+ Financial Center LLC, according to a news release.

All of the companies have been sued for allegedly calling Missouri consumers on the state's no-call list. The release noted the cases against BMV Debt Management and American Credit Counselors also allege the companies used spoofed telephone numbers to make roughly 20,000 calls during a three-month period.

Spoofed numbers show up on caller identification systems as a different number than the one actually being used, and therefore mislead the consumer by concealing the identity and origin of the caller, the release said.

“The telemarketers who flaunt Missouri’s no-call law will be prosecuted. We have received hundreds of complaints from consumers receiving these unwanted calls,” Koster said in the release.

In separate but related news, Koster yesterday urged the Missouri General Assembly to pass a law adding cell phones to the state's no-call law. According to Koster, Missourians have asked to register more than 2.3 million cell phones, but the law currently only allows the attorney general to register residential landline phones.[[In-content Ad]]