FTC Charges Payment Processor in Debt Relief Scam

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has filed an amended complaint against a telemarketing company to include a payment processing business that allegedly assisted and facilitated a credit card interest rate reduction scam. The amended complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief involving all the defendants as well as other relief such as restitution, refunds, and disgorgement. According to the complaint, Independent Resources Network Corp (“IRN”), knew, or consciously avoided knowing; key facts about the illegal conduct of a telemarketing scam operated by Innovative Wealth Builders (“IWB”), and chose to continue profiting from processing IWB’s credit card transactions. In January of this year, a US District court halted IWB’s operations. The original FTC complaint alleged that IWB cold called consumers with claims that it would “reduce substantially the interest rates of consumers’ credit cards, save them thousands of dollars, and help them pay off their debits much faster.” Consumers who purchased services for a “one-time lifetime fee” that ranged from $500 to $2000 did not receive any of the promised relief, and many of those who attempted to get a full refund were denied.