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Canadian Telemarketers Fined $20 Million

Wed, 11/01/2000 - 1:00am — Karen Stevenson
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The Federal Trade Commission has won a $19.7 million judgment against Canadian telemarketers the FTC charged with operating an illegal international lottery scam. The FTC alleged that in calls from a Toronto-based boilerroom, the telemarketers used high pressure tactics to persuade consumers to send anywhere from $29 to thousands of dollars to invest in the lotteries. The federal court found that the defendants told consumers - most of whom were elderly - that they had been "specially selected" to participate in a system for playing the Canadian lottery and that the consumer was likely to win a large prize or jackpot by playing with the defendants. The court also found that telemarketers told the consumers that they were "registered" or "sponsored" by the Canadian Government to sell the lottery tickets, but failed to disclose that it was illegal to sell them to U. S. consumers. In fact, only a small percent of the money the telemarketers took in actually went toward the purchase of lottery tickets.

The defendants named in the FTC suit are Windermere Big Win International, Inc., Marathon Award Center, Inc., Sunshine Fortuity, Inc., Ernest Levy, a/k/a/Ernie Levy, Alan Silverstein, Selvanayagam Pararajasingam, Michael Levy, and George Ola. Consumers who believe they invested in foreign lotteries through one of the named defendants may apply for redress by contacting the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP.

The Federal Trade Commission has won a $19.7 million judgment against Canadian telemarketers the FTC charged with operating an illegal international lottery scam. The FTC alleged that in calls from a Toronto-based boilerroom, the telemarketers used high pressure tactics to persuade consumers to send anywhere from $29 to thousands of dollars to invest in the lotteries. The federal court found that the defendants told consumers - most of whom were elderly - that they had been "specially selected" to participate in a system for playing the Canadian lottery and that the consumer was likely to win a large prize or jackpot by playing with the defendants. The court also found that telemarketers told the consumers that they were "registered" or "sponsored" by the Canadian Government to sell the lottery tickets, but failed to disclose that it was illegal to sell them to U. S. consumers. In fact, only a small percent of the money the telemarketers took in actually went toward the purchase of lottery tickets.

The defendants named in the FTC suit are Windermere Big Win International, Inc., Marathon Award Center, Inc., Sunshine Fortuity, Inc., Ernest Levy, a/k/a/Ernie Levy, Alan Silverstein, Selvanayagam Pararajasingam, Michael Levy, and George Ola. Consumers who believe they invested in foreign lotteries through one of the named defendants may apply for redress by contacting the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP.