NJ Shuts Down 3 Monmouth Businesses That Scammed Seniors, AG Says

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ - The state Attorney General's Office has shut down three area businesses that defrauded senior citizens in a "telemarketing blitz" by selling emergency response systems using aggressive and misleading telemarketing sales tactics.

GG and their businesses Life Aid Connect, Inc., Safety Alert USA Limited Liability Company a/k/a Med Aid Alert, and Mobile Alert, Inc. are permanently banned from selling any similar systems, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.

“Using deceitful telemarketing practices to exploit vulnerable seniors isn’t just cruel, it’s also illegal,” said Grewal said. “This settlement sends a clear message that we will vigorously enforce our consumer protection laws and prosecute those who break them, especially those who prey on the elderly.”

The two men "targeted senior citizens in a telemarketing blitz that employed deceptive and aggressive tactics to pressure them into buying emergency alert systems that sometimes were never delivered, often did not operate properly or, in some cases, could not be activated where the consumers lived," according to the Attorney General's Office.

The emergency alert systems the two men sold allowed users to summon medical help via home-based or GPS satellite systems. The systems ranged in price from $159 to $299, and cost between $34.95 and $39.95 a month in monitoring fees, according to the state.

The state presented a lengthy list of violations of the state Consumer Fraud Act, the Advertising Regulations, and the Telemarketing Do Not Call Law and related regulations, including:

• Operating as telemarketers in New Jersey without being registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs.
• Making telemarketing sales calls to hundreds of consumers who were on the federal “Do Not Call Registry.”
• Making telemarketing sales call to consumers even after those consumers requested that defendants remove them from their call list.
• Making unsubstantiated claims that consumers needed the systems because of their “serious medical issues.”
• Selling refurbished systems that were misrepresented as “100 percent brand new.”
• Selling systems to consumers who lived outside the defendants’ GPS service area and as a result, were not able to use the systems.
• Accepting consumer payments and then failing to provide them with the systems for which they paid.
• Automatically renewing consumer contracts for the systems, contrary to defendants’ representation that there are “no long term contracts.”
• Charging the credit card accounts of consumers who, after initially providing their credit card information, declined to purchase the systems.
• Representing that consumers who purchased systems would receive protection “anywhere in the U.S. around the clock 24/7”, when such was not the case.
• Representing that the system “connects with our monitoring center within seconds,” when such was not the case.
• Failing to provide refunds to consumers who purchased systems which did not operate properly or at all.

Rishty and Ansell agreed to be permanently barred from advertising and selling emergency alert systems in the state. Rishty is also permanently barred from owning or operating any business in the state that uses telemarketing to advertise or sell merchandise.

Rishty and Ansell must dissolve their three businesses and destroy all personal and health information obtained from consumers in connection with the businesses, Grewal said.

The two men agreed to pay a settlement amount of $295,545, which includes $206,000 in civil penalties, $8,669 in consumer restitution, $57,980 in reimbursement of the Division’s attorney’s fees, and $22,783 in reimbursement of the Division’s investigative costs, he said.

“Protecting consumers from being defrauded by New Jersey telemarketers is a responsibility we take seriously,” said Kevin R. Jespersen, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “Con artists and scammers will not be allowed to browbeat our consumers into buying goods or services that they don’t want or need or don’t work as promised.”

Consumers who believe they have been cheated or scammed by a business, or suspect any other form of consumer abuse can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.

Logo: Courtesy of New Jersey State Attorney General's Office