Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission obtained permanent injunctions halting an Orlando-based robocall operation. All Us Marketing LLC, f/k/a Payless Solutions, LLC and affiliated businesses and individuals allegedly bombarded millions of consumers with nationwide robocall campaigns designed to trick consumers into paying up-front for worthless credit card interest rate reduction programs. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the case.
“This massive robocall operation bombarded consumers with millions of unwanted calls and misled victims into purchasing ineffective financial services—but thanks to our joint investigation, this scheme has been permanently shut down,” said Attorney General Bondi. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the FTC to shut down robocall scams targeting Floridians.”
“The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is committed to protecting Floridians’ hard-earned money from all kinds of scams and deception, and we’re proud to have worked with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission to shut down one of these frauds,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam.
Consumers paid between $300-$4,999 for these programs that claimed to substantially reduce credit card interest rates, and save thousands of dollars in a short time. The defendants, however, did not provide the promised interest rate reductions or savings. Additionally, the defendants allegedly used the robocalls to falsely identify themselves as representatives of consumers’ banks or credit card companies, and in some cases, make unauthorized charges to consumers’ credit cards. The defendants also allegedly charged consumers a fee in advance of providing debt relief services and called consumers with telephone numbers registered on the National Do Not Call Registry.
As part of the permanent injunction obtained by Attorney General Bondi’s Office and the FTC, all of the defendants are prohibited from the following:
- Telemarketing;
- Offering debt-relief products and services;
- Misrepresenting financial products and services; and
- Making deceptive or unsubstantiated claims.
The defendants include: All Us Marketing LLC, f/k/a Payless Solutions, LLC; Global Marketing Enterprises Inc., f/k/a Pay Less Solutions Inc.; Global One Financial Services LLC; Your #1 Savings LLC; Ovadaa LLC; Royal Holdings Of America LLC; GRR Financial Services LLC; Auto Guardian USA, LLC, Premier Marketing International, LLC; Gary Rodriguez; Marbel Rodriguez; Carmen Williams; Jonathan Paulino; Fairiborz Fard; Shirin Imani; Alex Serna, Christian Serna, and Kimberly Coarse.
To view the permanent injunctions against the defendants, see below:
- Alex Serna, here;
- Christian Serna, All Us Marketing and GRR, here;
- Coarse, Auto Guardian USA and Premier Marketing International, here;
- Fard, Imani and Global Marketing Enterprises, here;
- Gary Rodriguez and Your #1 Savings, here;
- Marbel Rodriguez and Global One Financial Services, here;
- Paulino and Royal Holdings of America, here; and
- Williams and Ovadaa, here.
Attorney General Bondi’s Office and the FTC filed the case in the Middle District of Florida.
These permanent injunctions are the final actions in the joint efforts of the Attorney General’s Office and the FTC in taking down this massive robocall operation. For more information about the actions halting this operation that bilked millions from consumers across the country, click here.
