Mass. Attorney General Sues Spammer Under State, Federal Law

Mass. Attorney General, Tom Reilly, is suing a company accused of sending thousands of unwanted electronic messages offering "pre-approved mortgage rates even with bad credit" to consumers in Massachusetts and beyond. The unsolicited e-mail, commonly referred to as "spam," violate state and federal law. In the first state enforcement action taken since the January 1 inception of the federal CAN SPAM Act, AG Reilly is alleging that DC Enterprises, an unincorporated business, and company principal Willliam T. Carson of Weston, Florida, have sent thousands of misleading email messages from a business address in Newton, where the company has no physical presence. The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that DC Enterprises has failed to include an opt-out provision, which allows consumers to decline future emails; failed to clearly identify messages as advertisements; and used a non-functioning sender address when disseminating messages, all which violate the new federal law protecting against unwanted spam as well as the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.

"This is exactly the type of unwanted, misleading, and annoying spam that Internet users in Massachusetts and around the country complain about, and for good reason," AG Reilly stated. "We expect e-mail marketers to live up to both Massachusetts law and the new federal spam law, and if they don't, we will take action. This company falsely tried to give its offers credibility by including a Massachusetts business address, which is an insult to the thousands of legitimate companies that call Massachusetts home."

Messages from DC Enterprises tout low interest mortgage loans for anyone, even consumers with bad credit. They include a link to a loan application that requires applicants to provide personal and financial information. When consumers clicked on the "opt-out" button at the bottom of the application, the function failed to work. Consumers who attempted to reply directly to DC Enterprises by e-mail discovered that the company's sender addresses were not valid. Those who sent postal letters to the address listed in their e-mails -- DC Enterprises, Paragon Towers, 233 Needham Street, Suite 300, Newton, MA -- received no response, because DC Enterprises does not have an office at that location.

In addition to the CAN SPAM violations, the complaint alleges that DC Enterprises engaged in mortgage brokering services without a license and gave recipients the false impression that anyone would qualify for the touted loans in violation of Massachusetts regulations covering the advertising of mortgage loans.

Investigators from AG Reilly's office filled out the loan application linked to DC Enterprises' emails, which led them to identify company owner Billy Carson as the person behind the solicitations. "We have found that the best way to investigate Internet cases is to put ourselves in the position of the consumer, whether it's conducting undercover stings or responding to suspicious offers like the one in this case," AG Reilly added.

More than 27 complaints against DC Enterprises have been filed with AG Reilly's Consumer Complaint Hotline, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Fraud Complaint Center. In addition to civil penalties and fines, AG Reilly is seeking a court order to prevent DC Enterprises from sending commercial emails in violation of state and federal law. The request for a preliminary injunction will be heard on July 21st.