Sun Spectrum Communications Organization, Inc., North American Communications Organization, Inc., and WWCI2002, Inc.

The Federal Trade Commission charged the telemarketers with selling nonexistent credit cards to U.S. consumers. The companies, "targeted consumers with poor credit, offering major credit cards with a $2,500 limit for an advance fee of $197 to $300. The telemarketers claimed to have information showing that the consumers recently had been denied credit, and pitched the credit card offer as a means of improving their credit rating. Implying that they were merely verifying data, the defendants requested information about the consumer's bank accounts, such as account numbers, routing numbers, and the account holder's name, as well as personal identifying information, such as date of birth, mother's maiden name, and Social Security number. They also allegedly misrepresented that they had the ability and authority to issue major credit cards." The group has agreed to pay $415,000 in fines to the FTC and have all been banned from selling credit related products through telemarketing and must stop their attempts to deceive consumers into giving out their personal financial information. (Oct-25-05) [COMMUNITY DISPATCH]