FTC HALTS BOGUS PREPAID PHONE CARD CLAIMS, CARDS FAILED TO DELIVER THE NUMBER OF MINUTES PROMISED IN ADS
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U. S. District Court has ordered a temporary halt to the deceptive advertising claims used to promote prepaid phone cards marketed by Alternatel, Inc.; G.F.G. Enterprises, LLC, also d/b/a Mystic Prepaid; Voice Prepaid, Inc.; Voice Distributors, Inc.; Telecom Express, Inc.; and their principals, pending trial. The agency alleges the marketers misrepresent the number of calling minutes consumers will get on their cards and fail to adequately disclose fees that will reduce the value of the cards. The defendants are part of an industry that sells approximately $4 billion worth of prepaid calling cards a year, many of which are sold to immigrants who depend on the cards to call friends and family in other countries. According to the FTC, the defendants market their prepaid calling cards through small retailers such as newsstands, kiosks, grocery and convenience stores, and over the Internet. The defendants’ cards, which sell for between ...