A Phoenix, Arizona based telemarketing company has been ordered to quit making telephone calls to Iowans. In September, the Iowa Attorney General’s office filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against the company – Advanced Employment Solutions (AES) – whose telemarketers sold household products claiming the sales helped veterans and disabled workers.
On Tuesday, a Polk County Judge ordered AES to permanently cease telephone sales to Iowans. The lawsuit alleged AES sold household products, Bibles, American flags and other items using sales pitches in which callers falsely claimed to be “disabled workers” or “handicapped veterans.”
The suit also alleged the pitches were primarily targeted to older Iowans. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller reports AES telemarketers repeatedly called a 92-year-old Iowa woman over a year, convincing her to pay $900 for a variety of products. The lawsuit stated one caller that claimed to be a “handicapped veteran of the Vietnam war,” when in fact he had no disability and was born in 1980.
The judge’s order requires AES to refund Iowa consumers who were misled and made purchases from the company. Miller says Iowans who made transactions with AES should contact his office.
