Fergie's Tech Blog

FTC Intercedes in 'Wal-Mart Shopping Spree' Scam

Caroline Meyer writes on The Checkout Blog:

The Federal Trade Commission has obtained a temporary restraining order against a group of companies that have been running what's become infamously known as the "Wal-Mart Shopping Spree" scam.

Here's how the scam worked: Consumers got telephone sales pitches offering gift cards -- usually $200 to $500, mostly from Wal-Mart, but also from Kmart, JCPenney, Macy's and other retailers. To receive the cards, the consumers were asked to first pay a shipping and handling fee ranging from $3.49 to $4.95. The callers wanted payments made through consumers bank accounts and demanded the account information over the phone. If a consumer declined, they often were called repeatedly and sometimes threatened until they relented, the FTC said.

Of course, the gift cards never arrive. Even worse, once the callers had the bank account numbers, they kept drawing money from the accounts.

posted by Fergie @ 3/01/2006 07:39:00 PM