Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit against B.E.S.T. GDR LLC, doing business as Premium Home Service, and its Chief Executive Officer Yosef Bernath, alleging the business created thousands of online business profiles for home repair companies that did not exist. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) joined Raoul in filing the lawsuit against the online business based in Westchester, Illinois.
The Attorney General’s office collaborated with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DOJ on the lawsuit.
Raoul’s lawsuit alleges Premium Home Service’s scheme lures consumers in with local phone numbers for what consumers think are local home repair businesses; the defendants allegedly maintained over 7,600 telephone numbers in over 250 area codes across the U.S. Consumers may find one of the defendants businesses listed at the top of an online search, as the defendants use search engine optimization techniques to promote higher placement in search results.
When consumers call what they think are local businesses, their calls are routed to customer service representatives who typically are located overseas.
The representatives attempt to sell consumers either a membership or a one-time fee for a service call, frequently collecting debit or credit card information when a sale is made. Then, the defendants outsource consumers’ service requests to third-party service providers.
The lawsuit alleges many consumers have complained that such providers are unqualified, provide subpar services or fail to show up at all. Well over 100,000 consumers nationwide have been deceived into calling and purchasing home repair services and memberships since at least 2018.
Raoul is seeking a permanent injunction to prevent further deceptive practices, civil penalties against the defendants and monetary relief for affected consumers.
Supervising Attorney Janice Parker and Assistant Attorneys General Dale Lichtenstein and Amanda Palmer are handling the case for Raoul’s Consumer Fraud Bureau.
Source: Illinois Attorney General’s Office
Topics
Lawsuits
Illinois
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