AG Zoeller Sues Medical Supplies Company For Making 55,000 Alleged Illegal Robocalls

Indiana Part Of National “Sweep” To Halt Robocall Operations

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is suing a Florida-based company, Am-Med Diabetic Supplies, Inc., for allegedly violating Indiana’s Do Not Call laws by making more than 55,000 illegal robocalls to Hoosiers.

According to the Attorney General’s lawsuit, the company – also doing business as Beyond Medical USA – made more than 55,000 illegal robocalls to Indiana residents offering diabetic supplies, called more than 25,000 people whose numbers were registered on Indiana’s Do Not Call list, and failed to disclose the true identity of the caller or company when contacting Hoosiers.

The AG’s Office received six consumer complaints about the company, which launched the investigation and uncovered the thousands of calls that were made.

“Hoosiers are beyond frustrated that they continue to be harassed by unwanted calls, and it’s only getting worse as automated robocalls can be made easier and faster, at a rate of thousands of calls per minute,” Zoeller said. “Though many scam callers are overseas and can easily evade detection, I am focused on stopping Do Not Call violators that blatantly disregard our laws and add to this annoyance and intrusion.”

Zoeller’s office is suing the company for violating Indiana’s telephone privacy laws. The lawsuit, filed in Marion County court, seeks civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each wrongful call.

Also this week, Indiana joined 10 states, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice and several other law enforcement entities as part of a national “sweep” to halt robocall operations.

Since January 2015, 39 actions have been taken by these agencies to prosecute violators of state and national telephone privacy laws. Through these collaborative enforcement efforts, these agencies have put an end to operations estimated to have made billions of robocalls.

In addition to the Am-Med Diabetic Supplies, Inc. lawsuit, Zoeller’s office sued or received court judgments in four other cases for robocall violations since 2015.

• Lawsuit against CallSocket, LP; CallSocket, LLC; Ultimate Tubs, LLC; Hydrant Media, LLC for making alleged illegal calls offering walk-in bathtubs.
• Default judgment obtained against Jerome Edmond for making illegal robocalls to sell home security systems and for impersonating ADT home security systems representatives.
• Default judgment obtained against Wayne Walton and Space Coast Holdings for making illegal robocalls offering home security systems.
• Settlement agreement reached with Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., Linked Service Solutions, LLC, Economic Strategy, LLC, Scott Broomfield, Jason Birkett and Jacob DeJongh for allegedly making political survey calls which were thinly disguised illegal robocalls offering cruises to the Bahamas.

Unwanted calls and robocalls are the most common complaint received by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, with more than 14,000 complaints received last year and complaints in 2016 arriving at a rate of more than 50 complaints per day.

Zoeller reminded Indiana residents to sign up for Indiana’s Do Not Call list, which helps to deter unwanted sales calls and text messages, by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or calling 1.888.834.9969.

Additionally, Zoeller urged Hoosiers to take advantage of available call-blocking options to help stop scam calls. The Attorney General’s Office created a call-blocking reference sheet to inform the public about available options and encourage development of new options. The FTC also shares call-blocking tips here.

People who receive an unwanted call can file a complaint by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or calling 1.888.834.9969.

Zoeller thanked Deputy Attorney General Ernani Magalhaes for his work on this case.