WASHINGTON–At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has temporarily halted a bogus credit repair scheme known as “The Credit Game” for promoting a “series of lies and deceptions.”
The FTC has alleged the scheme’s operators lied to credit reporting agencies regarding information on consumers’ credit reports and pitched consumers a supposed business opportunity that was essentially starting their own bogus credit repair scheme.
“Credit repair schemes cheat those already in financial trouble, and these defendants even tried to redirect COVID-19 tax benefits into their own pockets,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “We’re grateful that the court shut this scheme down and disrupted this web of deception.”
The Complaint
In a complaint filed against The Credit Game and its owners, Michael and Valerie Rando, the FTC is alleging the company has illegally charged consumers hundreds and even thousands of dollars for credit repair services of little to no value and told consumers to “invest” their COVID-19 governmental benefits on their unlawful services.
“In some cases, the company’s ‘services’ included filing false identity theft reports with the FTC and encouraging consumers to take actions that were unlawful,” the FTC said.
The FTC has asked the court to immediately halt the company’s illegal operations, appoint a receiver, and freeze the defendants’ assets. The court issued a temporary restraining order doing so on May 3.
According to the FTC, in addition to the core credit repair scheme, the defendants have also taken advantage of the ongoing pandemic by telling consumers to “invest” pandemic tax benefits into their credit repair schemes. One advertisement used the headline “Free Credit Repair From The Government,” the FTC said.
More Than $15M Brought In
According to the FTC, the defendants are based in Florida and have operated credit repair schemes since at least 2019, first using the name Wholesale Tradelines before changing to The Credit Game in 2020. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants claim to have brought in more than $15 million in business through their operations.
In its complaint filed against The Credit Game and the Randos, the FTC alleges the defendants’ deceptive tactics violated the FTC Act, the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), the Business Opportunity Rule, the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), and the Covid Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).
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