INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit Friday against a telemarketer and his company for allegedly making illegal pre-recorded calls and impersonating an ADT home security systems representative.
Jerome Edmond and USA Promotions allegedly made robocalls advertising ADT security systems after several high profile home invasions occurred in Indiana.
The automated message said due to a rise in residential burglaries, ADT would provide the recipient with a free home security alarm system with free installation and activation.
ADT confirmed that no one affiliated with the company made the calls.
"This is scamming at its worst," Zoeller said. "Taking advantage of public fear with unsolicited and illegal robo-calls requires aggressive enforcement actions.
"It is encouraging that people who received these calls recognized they shouldn't be receiving them and asked the Consumer Protection Division to help protect them from further calls or additional victimization."
Zoeller's office received about 160 complaints related to the robocalls.
The attorney general's lawsuit seeks fines, penalties and a permanent injunction against Edmond and USA Promotions for alleged violations of Indiana's Telephone Privacy law and the state's Auto-Dialer law. The suit also seeks the recovery of attorney costs.
In June, Zoeller's office sued a North Carolina home security seller, Power Home Technologies Inc., over similar allegations. The case remains pending.