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Wisconsin Sues ILD Teleservices

August 1, 2006

ILD Teleservices • Collect Calls • Calling Card Calls • Directory Assistance Charges • Internet Services • Long Distance • Payphone Charges • Voicemail • Yellow Pages/Web Sites --- • Wisconsin Sues ILD Clients eChurch, ILab • Wisconsin Sues ILD Teleservices • Florida Seeks Nationwide Telephone Billing Probe • Florida Opens "Cramming" Probe • Cramming Hits Consumers When They Least Expect It

Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager says her office has expanded a pending telecommunications fraud lawsuit to include a telephone billing aggregator, ILD Telecommunications, Inc., based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

The lawsuit challenges charges placed on the telephone bills of small Wisconsin businesses for internet-related services that the businesses say they never ordered.

"The Wisconsin Department of Justice is seeking refunds for over one thousand Wisconsin consumers charged for services they did not order," Lautenschlager said. "Protecting Wisconsin consumers is a key responsibility of the Attorney General, and the Department will continue to enforce the law to the fullest extent on behalf of our citizens."

The original suit alleged that Radical Persson, Inc., a California corporation, using the names the "EChurch Network," and "ILab Technologies," marketed Internet services to small businesses, including Internet access, website hosting and Internet advertising.

EChurch and ILab obtained payment by having ILD place their monthly charges on the customer's telephone bill. As a billing aggregator, through contracts with local telephone companies, ILD is authorized to include charges on telephone bills on behalf of companies such as Radical Persson, Inc.

According to the amended complaint, ILD knew or should have known of the deceptive nature of RPI's practices because based upon its own records over 30 percent of Wisconsin consumers charged for services provided by ILabs and over 40 percent of Wisconsin consumers charged for services provided by EChurch denied authorizing the services for which they were charged, or otherwise questioned their billings.

As a result, the state alleges that ILD is liable for violations of Wisconsin telecommunications law by billing customers for services they did not order, and for billing for services after the customer had canceled.

It also adds as a defendant the creator and owner of Radical Persson, Inc., Lars Persson, a resident of Huntington Beach, California.

According to the lawsuit, since 2001, Radical Persson has charged over 1000 Wisconsin businesses for its services, the vast majority of which claimed they never authorized the service.

In some instances, the supposed subscriber did not even own a computer and thus had no need for Internet access.

Moreover, according to the complaint, the company falsely represented to potential customers that it would make a monthly contribution to a local church, but did not in fact make such contributions. Nor did the company list the businesses in its web business directory, as promised.

The state's lawsuit, filed at the request of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, seeks refunds for all affected Wisconsin consumers, as well as penalties for the company's violations of Wisconsin law.

The maximum penalty for each violation of Wisconsin's telemarketing rules is $10,000; violation of the state's telecommunications law carries a maximum forfeiture of $5,000." Assistant Attorney General John Greene is representing the state, with investigative assistance by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

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