The FTC’s complaint alleges that since at least 2016, the defendants scammed consumers out of nearly $200 million by making false and misleading promises about their credit repair services, impersonating debt collection companies and creditors, collecting illegal upfront fees and engaging in unlawful subscription enrollment practices.
The defendants in the case are the five principles, including Alexander Brola, Liam Emery, Marko Petkovic, Joshua Curtis and David Naylor, and 17 companies: Credit Glory LLC (which is separately incorporated in three states), Credit Glory Inc., Credit Sage LLC, Joy Credit Software LLC, Clerk Credit Systems LLC, Clerk Credit Software LLC, Standard Scores LLC, Collection Payments LLC, Collections Dispute LLC, Collections Expert LLC, Collections Support LLC, Credit Cop LLC, Dispute Collection LLC, Glorious Credit LLC and Joyful Credit LLC, per the release.
Credit Glory did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
According to the FTC’s press release, the agency alleges that the defendants falsely claimed in search ads and on their websites that their credit repair services would remove negative items from consumers’ credit reports, employed telemarketers who posed as legitimate debt collection entities when contacted by consumers, charged illegal upfront fees to enroll in the credit repair services and charged illegal advance fees on a recurring basis, using a negative option and failing to clearly disclose recurring fees.
The FTC alleges these actions violated the FTC Act, the Credit Repair Organizations Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, per the release.
“We are pleased that the court shut down this illegal operation,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the release. “The FTC is committed to protecting consumers from credit repair schemes that require up-front fees and fail to deliver promised results.”
PYMNTS reported in July that the FTC had widened its subscription crackdown to judge the entire customer journey, from the first ad a consumer sees to the moment they try to walk away.
