The Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission have secured a record $30 million in cash and assets in a recent settlement with operators of a sweepstakes scam which appeared to target senior citizens.
According to a news release, the settlement requires the defendants to turn over more than $21 million in cash, as well as two luxury vacation homes, a yacht, a Bentley automobile, and other personal property. This settlement is the largest the FTC has ever obtained in a case against a sweepstakes scam, and also set the record for the State of Missouri.
The settlement stems from a case the FTC and the State of Missouri brought in February 2018. The complaint alleged the scammers sent tens of millions of deceptive personalized mailers to victims around the world since 2013. The defendants’ mailers falsely told recipients they had won or were likely to win a substantial cash prize in exchange for a fee ranging from $9 to $140. Many consumers, including senior citizens, paid the defendants several times before realizing they had been scammed.
Any resident who thinks they have been a victim of a scam is encouraged to file a complaint at the website, ago.mo.gov or by calling the consumer protection hotline at 1-800-392-8222.