"Card Services" Robocalls in 2009: The Economic Relief Technologies Case

September 1, 2009: That's when, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), virtually all robocalls became illegal unless the person had given written authorization to get them. And within months, the FTC was in court against companies that kept blasting them anyway.

Economic Relief Technologies is one of those early cases. And the ending was brutal.

So what happened?

On November 30, 2009, the FTC sued Economic Relief Technologies, LLC, SafeRide Warranty LLC, VP Marketing, LLC and three individuals in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia (case no. 1:09-cv-3347). The court temporarily halted the robocalls.

It was one of three cases the FTC announced in December 2009 against groups using names like "card services," "credit card services" or "account services." According to the FTC, here's how the calls worked across those cases:

• A prerecorded message said the company could lower your credit card interest rate.
• Press 1 and you got a live telemarketer.
• The pitch: dramatically lower rates, thousands in savings, debt paid off faster. For an upfront fee.
• The "guarantee": save a set amount or get a full refund. The FTC said refunds were rare.

The Economic Relief Technologies defendants allegedly ran a second scam too. Using names like "Auto Protection Center" and "Warranty Services," they tricked people into thinking they were calling from the vehicle manufacturer or dealer and said the warranty was about to expire.

The FTC also charged things like calling Do Not Call Registry numbers, calling people who'd asked not to be called, spoofing caller ID and abandoning calls.

Read the FTC's complaint against Economic Relief Technologies.

How did it end?

The defendants didn't fight it. They failed to respond, and the court entered defaults.

On July 22, 2010, the court entered a final judgment. Read the court's judgment and final order. It:

• Permanently banned the defendants from making prerecorded calls.
• Banned them from marketing debt relief services and auto service contracts.
• Banned them from telemarketing, period.
• Found the defendants jointly liable for $25,238,411.36. That was what a court-appointed receiver's forensic accountant calculated as revenue from January 2008 through May 2009, minus refunds and chargebacks.

In September 2012, the FTC mailed refund checks to 4,468 consumers, from $31 to $1,300 each.

Why should you care?

Honestly? Because the playbook hasn't changed much. "Card services." Fake warranty expiration. Press 1. It's 2026 and people still get these calls.

What's changed is the enforcement. And this case shows how far it can go:

• Ignoring the lawsuit doesn't make it go away. A default can still mean a $25 million judgment.
• Get written consent before any prerecorded sales call. That's been the rule since 2009.
• Never pretend to be the dealer, the manufacturer or the bank.
• Honor do-not-call requests and don't spoof caller ID.

Simple stuff. Every one of these rules has been around for over 15 years.