Update: Scammers Claim the Board Will Pay Your Bills
9/8/2014
The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (the Board) discovered through telephone calls from the public that certain websites were falsely claiming the existence of a so-called "Bill Payment Government Assistance Program" that was funded and governed by the Board. The Board passed the information regarding the program to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its review.
On August 19, 2014, the FTC asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to shut down the scam.
The FTC's complaint targets the operators of two websites that were allegedly full of misrepresentations about the "Bill Payment and Government Assistance Program." The complaint alleges that the defendants purported to offer up to $75,000 in debt relief to consumers, as well as promising that their credit scores would "increase within 30 days." Consumers were then told that in exchange for a "service charge" of $900 to $1,100, the defendants would pay the consumers' bills. The service charge was typically a money transfer through Western Union or MoneyGram. Once the consumers paid the charge, the scammers then reversed the payments made to consumers' bills.
The complaint asked the court to take steps to halt the scam immediately, as well as a permanent order stopping the defendants' activities and requiring them to give up their ill-gotten gains.
On August 21, 2013, the court issued a temporary restraining order. On September 4, 2014, the court issued a preliminary injunction order.
Individuals who have questions or concerns about a similar program they have seen or been asked to participate in, or believe they have been the victims of fraud, should contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or the FTC's toll-free help line 877-FTC-HELP.