Word: telescam
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Searles was taken by a telemarketing scam, but he has plenty of company. In the shadow of the fast-growing telemarketing industry, which sold more than $100 billion in legitimate products and services over the phone last year, telephone swindlers are springing up like mushrooms. Telescam artists are bamboozling consumers with pitches about everything from fine art and exotic vacations to time-share condos and precious-metals ventures...
...Other telescam artists pretend to be travel agents offering extraordinary discounts. In Illinois, Scott Walker and his mother started World Travel Vacation Brokers in their garage, mailing flyers to consumers around the country that promised Hawaiian vacations for just $29. Gullible customers who called in their orders received a voucher entitling them to book a trip through the agency, but at a cost of several hundred dollars more. By the time FTC investigators took the company to court, the outfit had taken in more than $6 million...
...Telescam groups in several states employ a "grand prize" hook to sell useless water purifiers. Supposed prizewinners, who are advised by mail to call an 800 number for information, are told they will collect such awards as a diamond watch, mink coat and luxury car if they buy a $398 system that removes pollutants from drinking water. Consumers who buy the product receive a worthless contraption containing two small charcoal tablets. Worse, the prize never shows...
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