Lisa Madigan (D)
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) -- Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against Las Vegas-based company, claiming it cheated Illinois small business by "cramming" them.
YP.com, a company incorporated under the name Live Deal, Inc., allegedly added charges to consumer's telephone bills that the consumers never wanted or ordered.
"This company defrauds small business owners by adding unauthorized charges to their bills," the Democratic attorney general said. "I urge consumers to review their monthly phone bills to ensure they've authorized all the charges. If they find charges they did not approve, they should dispute them with their phone company and ask that the charges be removed from the bill, and they should file a complaint with my office."
The suit claims the Live Deal called small businesses in order to confirm their free Yellow Page listing when, in fact, the listing was free for only 30 days.
After that period of time, Live Deal would "cram" a monthly fee of $35.95 onto the customer's bill.
Madigan claims those who tried to cancel the service were unable to because the customer service line was busy. She is seeking $50,000 in civil penalties and also refunds for the consumers who were the target of the unsolicited charges.