Infinity Group Services, a company that used radio ads to tout a mortgage workout service, has been busted by the FTC in a dragnet along with similar companies.
(Infinity has no relation to Mel Karmazin’s old radio group which eventually merged into CBS Radio.)
The company used radio advertising and its website to generate phone calls from people who wanted loan modifications. For $995 up front, the company said it would go through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Hope for Homeowner program, and that it had a high success rate when pursuing this tactic. It promised a money-back guarantee of satisfaction.
Of course, it rarely got the promised modification, was difficult to reach and only gave refunds after consumers went through agencies such as the FTC, the Better Business Bureau of the California Attorney General’s office.
Numerous other similar companies using a variety of marketing techniques were also part of the dragnet.
RBR/TVBR observation: Any company that wants a large upfront fee from people who are in any sort of financial difficulty is not to be trusted. The ads and the company’s website were used to generate telemarketing leads so it may have not been obvious that this company wasn’t so much on the up-and-up. But it’s a category that deserves a little extra care from a broadcast sales department before allowing them access to your airwaves and loyal customers.
