FTC sues, freezes assets of interest-rate-reduction-scam telemarketers

The Federal Trade Commission continues to crack down on deceptive telemarketing calls. This time, a federal judge in Washington has frozen the assets of three companies that were making unauthorized calls to consumers claiming they would help to substantially lower the interest rates on their credit cards.

The FTC sued the companies, AMS, Rapid Reduction, PDMI and their owners for allegedly making prerecorded robo-calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. According to complaints, the messages from "Card Services" or "Financial Services," sounded urgent and told consumers they could "press one" to speak to a representative, leading many to believe they were from credit card companies.

Consumers who signed up for services were charged from $499 to $1,590 and promised their money back if consumers did not see at least a $2,500 savings in their interest rates, according to the FTC's complaint.