Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit on Monday against Peter Tolman of California and his company, Leads Direct Telemarketing, for allegedly making automatic telemarketing calls to Indiana residents registered on the Do Not Call list.
The Attorney General's office received 60 complaints about the company, including 55 from residents already registered on the Do Not Call list. Tolman is accused of using an auto-dialing device to play a prerecorded sales pitch in an attempt to sell home security systems.
“Do Not Call means exactly that in Indiana," Zoeller said. "Constantly dodging unwanted calls is frustrating and tiresome, especially when the same calls come in over and over again. My office hears from Hoosiers every day who are being harassed by telemarketers, which is why I’ve made telephone privacy a priority. I take violations of the Do Not Call list and our robocalling statutes very seriously, and urge people to file complaints with my office if they are being targeted.”
Indiana's Do Not Call law started in January 2002. Since then, 314 settlements totaling more than $22 million have been made.
Most robocalls are illegal in the state regardless of registration on the Do Not Call list. These calls are only legal if a live person obtains the recipient's permission before playing a pre-recorded message.