Today, the FTC announced that it had shut down a sweepstakes scam that took in over $28 million from customers in the United States and other parts of the world.
The FTC first filed a complaint against the owners of the sweepstakes program, Matthew Pisoni, Marcus Pradel, and John Leon, in 2015. They would tell people they won large prizes often over $2 million but needed $20 to $30 fee within 10 days or they would lose that money. Over time, that added up to more than $28 million raised, but the group according to the FCC, the group had no connection to any sweepstakes and could not award or pay anyone the promised prizes.
“While these settlements will keep these defendants from harming more consumers with bogus prize claims, they will unfortunately not return money to consumers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Since the case was first filed, the Supreme Court’s decision in the AMG Capital Management case removed our ability to put the money defendants took back in consumers’ pockets. It is urgent that Congress restore the Commission’s ability to make consumers whole when they are targeted by scammers.”
Under this deal the group are banned from running any future sweepstakes or any form of prize promotion that tells consumers that they either have won or could be eligible to win a prize. In addition, the settlements prohibit the three defendants from any further deception related to any product or service and also prohibit them from making use of any consumer information they acquired through running the sweepstakes scam. Sadly no refunds where announced as part of this deal.
Scams like this are becoming increasingly popular and something to keep your guard up about.
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