It’s no more a surprise that credit card fraud is a common thing these days and continues to further grow all over the world. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Ohio have stopped a payment processor and a credit card interest reduction telemarketing scheme that’ve supposedly been working together to scam consumers. Let’s move forward to discover more about this case.
Payment Processor & Telemarketing Scheme Stopped
According to the FTC and the Ohio Attorney General, the mentioned companies have allegedly generated and processed payment orders (RCPOs) or checks created remotely.
These allowed merchants, including deceptive telemarketing schemes, to get access to funds from their victims’ bank accounts. The withdrawn sum makes up over $13 million. It’s allegedly been withdrawn since January 2016.
The Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith notes that this case once again highlights the importance of avoiding working with companies that promise to reduce debt by taking some upfront fee. The FTC will continue to go after schemes like this and take all the necessary measure to eliminate such unlawful conduct from the part of payment processors.
With all that being said, it’s too important to know how to manage your money. However, it’s also critical to know how to protect yourself and your business from scammers that can take your money from you. Thus, it’s crucial to take the time to find a respectable payment processor like eMerchantBroker.com to work with. The rates are among the cheapest. The application is among the fastest.
EMB, voted the nation’s top high risk credit card processor and a reputable alternative online lender, is listed as an A+ company by the BBB. Also, EMB is considered an A company by Card Payment Options. What’s more, ValuePenguin has ranked eMerchantBroker.com as the “Best All-Around High Risk Merchant Account Provider.”
In addition, the FTC has also permanently banned Alliance Security Inc. from telemarketing. The company was involved in installing home security systems. Its employees have supposedly made outbound calls to enlarge their customer base and encourage the sale of the systems, which were associated with security monitoring services.
Now, let’s see what the Better Business Bureau (BBB) thinks about telemarketing schemes.
BBB on Telemarketing Schemes
In reality, it’s not possible to estimate the dollar amount losses caused by telemarketing schemes: not all frauds are reported by those having been victimized. Anyway, based on the rough calculations by the FTC, telemarketing scammers get access to billions of dollars on a yearly basis.
In fact, telemarketing scammers are “interested” in all types of businesses and professional offices. Even top sophisticated business people can become a target for them. So, to protect your business, first of all, you should get equipped with the right knowledge and also educate your staff. This is the 1st step to take when trying to avoid the most widespread telemarketing scams.
The Better Business Bureau recommends business owners to avoid dealing with new office suppliers unless you verify these companies’ existence and trustworthiness through the local BBB. This is especially true of those cases when strangers call you to offer their services.
Do you have doubts you’ve been victimized by a telemarketing scammer? Well, if this is your case, contact your local BBB, as well as the appropriate law enforcement authorities without delay.
No matter what type of fraud has happened to you, the information provided to law enforcement officials will be of immense help in fighting telemarketing crime. Make sure to send them a complete complaint featuring a detailed description of the suspect company.
Now, the FTC requires all telemarketers calling consumers in the U.S. to download the National DNC Registry numbers to make sure they don’t contact consumers having registered their phone numbers.
To sum up, online payment processing fraud, including telemarketing transaction fraud, are still creating major problems in the field. To combat fraud, you need to take all the necessary steps and work with a secure and reliable payment processing company.