Court bans debt-relief operators who targeted seniors and veterans, FTC says

A federal court entered a $106.8 million judgment against companies behind a debt-relief scheme that the FTC said impersonated banks, credit card companies and government agencies to target seniors and veterans. The FTC said the October 14 order permanently bans the corporate and individual defendants from the debt-relief business and from telemarketing. The agency had alleged the operators falsely promised to cut consumers' debts by 75% or more and collected illegal advance fees. Money collected from the individual defendants would be available for consumer refunds.

Why it matters: The case involved callers posing as people's banks or government agencies. Besides the industry ban, the order bars the defendants from impersonating any government entity or business and from using consumers' credit reports without a permissible purpose.