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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Illinois AG and FTC Reach $9 Million Settlement With Phantom Debt Collector

Consumer Finance State Attorney General FTC Debt Collection Payday Lending Enforcement Settlement

Consumer Finance

On October 31, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced settlements with three operators of a fake debt collection scheme in Chicago. According to the Attorney General’s office, the three individuals and associated companies identified people who had recently applied for or received a short-term loan and then posed as a law firm to collect on the debt. The companies also sold fictitious loan debt portfolios to other debt buyers, who then attempted to collect on the fake debts. The settlements require the operators to surrender at least $9 million in assets (which will be used to refund impacted consumers) and, among other things, ban them from the debt collection business and from selling debt portfolios.