Mo. shares robocalling scheme settlement

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster joined the Federal Trade Commission and nine other attorneys general in a settlement with companies involved in a massive robocalling scheme.

A civil suit charged Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. with running the campaign that automatically called 12 to 15 million numbers per day between October 2011 and July 2012. The prerecorded messages allegedly started with a phony political survey as a means to get around laws that exempt political calls from no-call and robocall regulations, according to an FTC news release.

After hearing a prerecorded message purportedly from “John from Political Opinions of America,” consumers were told after participating in a 30-second research survey, they could “press one” for a free, two-day cruise to the Bahamas. After pressing the key on their phones, consumers were connected to live Caribbean Cruise Line telemarketers who solicited the cruises for sale, as well as preboarding hotels, cruise excursions, accommodations and other travel packages. Federal investors claim the company made millions in sales from the campaign.

Caribbean Cruise Line agreed to a $529,000 settlement to be shared between the states and federal government. Missouri’s portion will enter the state’s merchandising practices revolving fund, which is used for consumer protection education, according to a release from Koster’s office.

“This company and its telemarketing affiliates purposefully circumvented federal and state consumer protection laws,” Koster said in the release. “We estimate the number of illegal robocalls placed to Missourians alone number into at least the hundreds of thousands.”

Other defendants - Linked Service Solutions LLC and Economic Strategy LLC - joined in the settlement after allegations they aided Caribbean Cruise Line by providing phone leads, the FTC said.

Litigation continues against five other companies and their owner, Fred Accuardi, who allegedly also provided phone leads, according to the release.