- Report: #38798
Complaint Review: Federal Trade Commission - Washington District of Columbia
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Author Confirmed
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Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, 20580 District of Columbia, U.S.A.
Phone:
877-382-4357
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Federal Trade Commission needs to add Alyon Technologies to Integretel eBillit Inc Legal Decision Washington District of Columbia click here for EDitor's comment; Alyon's efforts to resolve complaints and click here to read Alyon's response
The Federal Trade Commission should pursue Alyon Technologies for the same reasons that are listed below. Read about Federal Trade Commission v. Verity International, Ltd.
TECHNOLOGY
Amount at Issue: $1,600,000 Stage: Pay Out
Federal Trade Commission v. Verity International, Ltd.
Consumers Recover $1.6 Million for Unauthorized Telephone Bills for Adult Entertainment
The court has approved the parties' $1.6 million settlement in a legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against telephone billing companies Integretel, Inc. and eBillit, Inc. The action claimed that the defendants participated in an illegal scheme misusing the international telephone billing system to charge consumers for "videotext" services--Internet-based "adult" entertainment--that the consumers never purchased or authorized. The $1.6 million will be held in escrow by the FTC until litigation against related companies is finished.
Through the scheme, thousands of consumers were billed an average of $127 apiece for services that they did not even know had been accessed through their phone lines. The charges for the videotext services were described as international telephone calls to Madagascar. Under the terms of the settlement, the defendants will waive any claim to $1.6 million in payments collected from consumers for these videotext services.
In many instances a consumer was completely unaware that charges had been incurred based on his or her phone number--charges that had been incurred by someone else who used the consumer's computer and phone line without permission. In addition, when consumers called the defendants' customer service number to dispute the bills, they were falsely told that the charges were valid and that they legally obligated to pay them.
The FTC investigation revealed that "dialer" software downloaded from teaser adult Web sites was causing charges to be billed to consumers' phone numbers. According to the FTC, the dialer program allowed Internet users to access the adult content without any means of verifying that the user was the telephone line subscriber or was authorized in any way to incur charges on the line subscriber's bill.
Once the dialer software was downloaded, it disconnected the consumer's modem from its usual Internet service provider, dialed an international phone number to Madagascar and reconnected the modem to the Internet from some overseas location. The line subscribers then began incurring charges on their phone lines for the remote Internet connection at the rate of $3.99 per minute.
PRIVATE
PRIVATE, California
U.S.A.
TECHNOLOGY
Amount at Issue: $1,600,000 Stage: Pay Out
Federal Trade Commission v. Verity International, Ltd.
Consumers Recover $1.6 Million for Unauthorized Telephone Bills for Adult Entertainment
The court has approved the parties' $1.6 million settlement in a legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against telephone billing companies Integretel, Inc. and eBillit, Inc. The action claimed that the defendants participated in an illegal scheme misusing the international telephone billing system to charge consumers for "videotext" services--Internet-based "adult" entertainment--that the consumers never purchased or authorized. The $1.6 million will be held in escrow by the FTC until litigation against related companies is finished.
Through the scheme, thousands of consumers were billed an average of $127 apiece for services that they did not even know had been accessed through their phone lines. The charges for the videotext services were described as international telephone calls to Madagascar. Under the terms of the settlement, the defendants will waive any claim to $1.6 million in payments collected from consumers for these videotext services.
In many instances a consumer was completely unaware that charges had been incurred based on his or her phone number--charges that had been incurred by someone else who used the consumer's computer and phone line without permission. In addition, when consumers called the defendants' customer service number to dispute the bills, they were falsely told that the charges were valid and that they legally obligated to pay them.
The FTC investigation revealed that "dialer" software downloaded from teaser adult Web sites was causing charges to be billed to consumers' phone numbers. According to the FTC, the dialer program allowed Internet users to access the adult content without any means of verifying that the user was the telephone line subscriber or was authorized in any way to incur charges on the line subscriber's bill.
Once the dialer software was downloaded, it disconnected the consumer's modem from its usual Internet service provider, dialed an international phone number to Madagascar and reconnected the modem to the Internet from some overseas location. The line subscribers then began incurring charges on their phone lines for the remote Internet connection at the rate of $3.99 per minute.
PRIVATE
PRIVATE, California
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Gregory
Priviate,California,
U.S.A.
Alyon Technologies Tina Whitfield is helping perpetrate this Criminal Business against children and innocent citizens
#2Author of original report
Thu, January 23, 2003
From: [email protected] Firm Name: Alyon Technologies Type of Firm: Private/Closely Held Company Individual's Name: Tina Whitfield controller Street Address: 5555 Triangle Parkway *USCI, Inc.5555 Triangle Parkway, Suite 200 (same as Alyon) *AmericomOnline.com listed as a Telephone Company (same as Alyon) Address (cont.): Waterford Ctr. City: Norcross State/Province: GA Zip/Postal Code: 30092 Work Phone: 678-268-2344 Home Phone: FAX: 770-840-0905 What are you complaining about? Cold calling from U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 1. USCI, Inc. Phone: 678-268-2300 Waterford Ctr. 5555 Triangle Parkway, Suite 200 Norcross, Georgia 30092 Fax: 770-840-0905 Tina Whitfield controller 678-268-2344 Involved in bankruptsy in 2001 which was in partly dismissed. They had done business with RadioShack in New York through subsidiary Ameritel Communications provider of cellular services but have moved into IP Internet protocol telephony market, teaming up with network provider Net2Phone. USCIs AmericomOnline subsidiary markets IP telephony and prepaid communications products and services. The companys TelCollect unit offers accounts receivable management. JNC Opportunity Fund owns 73 of USCI. 2. AmericomOnline.com listed as a Telephone Company 5555 Triangle Parkway Suite 200 Norcross, GA 30092 678-268-2300 3. Ameritel Communications http://www.ameritelcms.com/ 1-800-600-1667 FAX 208-265-5151 Postal address P.O. Box 947 389 Tamarack Lane Sagle, Idaho 83860 General Information: [email protected] Webmaster: [email protected] 4. E-Group, Inc. http://www.egroupnet.com/ Contact E Group Email: [email protected] Minneapolis, MN. 901 North Third Street Suite 195 Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 Phone: 612 339-4777 Fax: 612 339-4767 ----------------- Everyone complain to your Attorney General and to the FTC http://www.ftc.gov Read http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/list107.html Stonewalling-Fatcat bureaucracy in Congress have still not passed 'Protect Children From E-Mail s**t Act of 2001 (H.R. 2472)!' RipOffReport.com does a better job than most government agencies in tracking, posting and embarrassing criminal business. Thank you ED Magedson of badbusinessbureau.com for a job well done!
