The defendants have absolutely no affiliation with any sweepstakes and are unable to grant or compensate anyone with the promised prizes.
Following a Federal Trade Commission investigation, the individuals behind a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme that defrauded persons of millions of dollars have reached settlements that prohibit them from running any future sweepstakes or misleading consumers with false prize winings.
The FTC initially brought charges against Matthew Pisoni, Marcus Pradel, and John Leon in 2015, accusing them of being involved in a large-scale sweepstakes scam that swindled over $28 million from victims in various countries, from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, to the United Kingdom.
In 2015, the FTC filed a complaint and presented evidence that the defendants had been sending personalized letters to consumers, deceitfully claiming that they had won substantial cash prizes, often exceeding $2 million. These letters boldly declared that the prizes were "guaranteed," but in order to claim the money, individuals were required to send the defendants a fee ranging from $20 to $30 in cash, check, or money order. To add pressure, a deadline of usually 10 days was imposed, accompanied by a stern warning that failure to pay promptly would result in the forfeiture of their winnings.
Unfortunately, the fact was that consumers did not win a dime. The defendants have absolutely no affiliation with any sweepstakes and are unable to grant or compensate anyone with the promised prizes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) clarifies that the defendants only confess to providing a service of compiling "reports" about sweepstakes and contests offered by other parties, which are accessible to the general public.
However, they cleverly bury this information in dense, confusing language, usually at the bottom or on the back of their letters. Their disclaimers are intentionally unclear and inconspicuous, failing to inform consumers of the reality. Moreover, the majority of consumers never even receives these so-called "reports" and would never have agreed to pay $20-$30 for them.
“Only in dense, confusing language, at the bottom or on the back of the letters,” the FTC explains
“While these settlements will keep these defendants from harming more consumers with bogus prize claims, they will unfortunately not return money to consumers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
The accused parties include Mail Tree Inc., Michael McKay Co., Spin Mail Inc., MCP Marketing Activities LLC (also known as Magellan Mail and Magellan Marketing), Trans National Concepts Inc., Romeria Global LLC (also operating as Lowenstein Varick and Nagel), Supreme Media LLC, Vernier Holdings Inc., Awards Research Consultant LLC, Mailpro Americas Corp., Masterpiece Marketing LLC (also known as Affiliated Opportunities Group, Corporate Accounting Authority, Dispatch Notification Services, Information Reporting Group, National Directory Center, and Priority Information Exchange), along with individuals Matthew Pisoni, Marcus Pradel, John Leon, and Victor Ramirez. A court order has been issued to halt the unlawful activities, freeze the defendants' assets, and appoint a receiver to oversee operations while the FTC continues with the legal proceedings.
“No one is permitted to steal hard-earned money from members of our community,” U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer said. “This office will work with international, national and local law enforcement agencies to prevent these types of sweepstake fraud schemes, and we will bring those who commit these crimes to justice.”
Pisoni, Pradel, and Leon have been permanently barred from participating in any sweepstakes or prize promotions that falsely claim consumers have won or could potentially win a prize. Furthermore, these settlements prevent the three individuals from engaging in any deceptive practices related to products or services, as well as using any consumer information obtained through their fraudulent sweepstakes scheme.
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