The calls were always the same: telemarketers claiming he'd promised $20 to a Florida charity. Coral Springs resident Jerry Mayer didn't remember pledging money. He told the callers they were wrong. He had an illness in his family. He just wanted to be left alone. But the phone kept ringing at least once a week until he mailed a check, he said. ...more

February 1, 2009

The calls were always the same: telemarketers claiming he'd promised $20 to a Florida charity. ...more

January 31, 2009

A Pinellas County telemarketer pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, admitting he failed to pay more than $136,000 in federal taxes in 2004. ...more

January 28, 2009

After a barrage of consumer complaints, the government is banning phone calls of prerecorded sales messages unless consumers agree to receive the calls. ...more

August 22, 2008

There's a modest storefront at 1800 Drew St. that might give the casual observer the impression the business is there to sell T-shirts. There are golf and T-shirts inside, and a sign out front reads: "USA Financial Retail Store." ...more

May 21, 2008

CLEARWATER - The Federal Trade Commission today announced the results of Operation Tele-Phoney, which the agency described as the largest telemarketing investigation in history. The effort involved cooperation with Canada, federal authorities involved with the investigation said at a webcast press conference in Washington this morning. ...more

May 20, 2008

A U.S. magistrate is recommending that a Largo-based telemarketing company that was raided and shut down by federal officials in July be allowed to resume operations, albeit in slimmed-down form and under a strict court-ordered receivership. ...more

December 28, 2007

The House voted Tuesday to make permanent the program protecting people from telemarketer calls, relieving consumers from having to renew their participation in the do-not-call registry. ...more

December 12, 2007

The cherished dinner hour void of telemarketers could vanish next year for millions of people when phone numbers begin dropping off the national Do Not Call list. ...more

September 22, 2007