(June 16) -- A civil lawsuit filed in May points a finger at four people allegedly responsible for more than $10 million in telemarketing scams.
Court documents allege that Christopher Cowart, James and Maureen Dunne, and Damian Kohlfield are behind so-called "robocall" schemes that have sent out more than 1 billion telephone calls since 2007, Fox News reported Monday.
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Orange County Sheriff's Office
James Dunne is one of four business owners accused in a civil suit of operating a $10 million telemarketing scheme. He is seen here in a 2000 booking photo for an unrelated incident.
The calls feature a familiar automated message, advising listeners to connect to a specialist to extend their automotive vehicle warranty. Once connected, victims of the scam are counseled by people pretending to be affiliated with automotive dealers and told to extend their service contracts, for fees ranging from $450 to $3,000 in monthly installments.
More than 1 billion of these "robocalls," so named because they are automatically dialed, were placed since 2007. The Federal Trade Commission alleges that the scam has been traced to three companies. The firms, Transcontinental Warranty, Voice Touch and Network Foundations, are owned by the defendants, Cowart, the Dunnes and Kohlfield, respectively.
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"This is one of the most aggressive telemarketing schemes the FTC has ever encountered," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement issued in May. "I’m not sure which is worse, the abusive telemarketing tactics of these companies, or the way they try to deceive people once they get them on the phone. Either way, we intend to shut them down."
The companies are charged with violating FTC regulations. The violations include misrepresenting or omitting material facts from sales pitches and "ignoring" rules that require the seller to disclose their identity "promptly, and in a clear and conspicuous manner," according to court documents.
In response to questions from Fox News, Cowart and Kohlfield denied any wrongdoing. James Dunne refused to comment on the FTC's allegations.
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