UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, ) ) ) 10 2017 ) Case No. ) CLERK. U.S. COURT v. CREDIT BUREAU CENTER, LLC, a limited liability company, formerly known as MYSCORE LLC, also doing business as EFREESCORE.COM, CREDITUPDATES.COM, and FREECREDITNATION.COM, MICHAEL BROWN, individually and as owner and manager of CREDIT BUREAU CENTER, LLC, DANNY PIERCE, individually, and ANDREW LLOYD, individually, Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 17-cv-00194 Judge Matthew F. Kennelly Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez COMPLAINT FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF Plaintiff, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), for its Complaint alleges: I. The FTC brings this action under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ("FTC Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 53(b); Section 5 of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act ("ROSCA"), 15 U.S.C. § 8404; and Section 621(a)(l) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. § 168ls(a)(l), to obtain temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief, rescission or reformation of contracts, restitution, the refund of monies paid, disgorgement of ill-gotten monies, and other equitable relief for Defendants' acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a); and in violation of Section 4 of ROSCA, 15 - 1 -
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Judge Matthew F. Kennelly Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez · Judge Matthew F. Kennelly Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez COMPLAINT FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF Plaintiff,
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION,
Plaintiff,
) ) ) 10 2017 ) Case No. ) CLERK. U.S. DISTf~ICT COURT
v.
CREDIT BUREAU CENTER, LLC, a limited liability company, formerly known as MYSCORE LLC, also doing business as EFREESCORE.COM, CREDITUPDATES.COM, and FREECREDITNATION.COM,
MICHAEL BROWN, individually and as owner and manager of CREDIT BUREAU CENTER, LLC,
DANNY PIERCE, individually, and
ANDREW LLOYD, individually,
Defendants.
) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
17-cv-00194 Judge Matthew F. Kennelly Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez
COMPLAINT FOR PERMANENT INJUNCTION AND OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF
Plaintiff, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), for its Complaint alleges:
I. The FTC brings this action under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission
Act ("FTC Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 53(b); Section 5 of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act
("ROSCA"), 15 U.S.C. § 8404; and Section 621(a)(l) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. § 168ls(a)(l), to obtain temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive
relief, rescission or reformation of contracts, restitution, the refund of monies paid, disgorgement
of ill-gotten monies, and other equitable relief for Defendants' acts or practices in violation of
Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a); and in violation of Section 4 of ROSCA, 15
- 1 -
- 2 -
U.S.C. § 8403; and in violation of Section 612(g) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681j(g), and the
Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 610 (“Free Reports Rule”), recodified at 12
C.F.R. §§ 1022.130-1022.138.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
2. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1337(a),
and 1345, and 15 U.S.C. §§ 45(a), 53(b), 1681s(a)(1), and 8404(a).
3. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2), (b)(3), (c)(2), and
(d), and 15 U.S.C. § 53(b).
PLAINTIFF
4. The FTC is an independent agency of the United States Government created by
statute. 15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58. The FTC enforces Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a),
which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. The FTC also
enforces ROSCA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 8401 et seq., which prohibits certain methods of negative option
marketing on the Internet. The FTC also enforces Section 612(g) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681j(g), and the Free Reports Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 610, recodified at 12 C.F.R. §§
1022.130-1022.138, which require certain prominent disclosures in advertisements for free credit
reports.
5. The FTC is authorized to initiate federal district court proceedings, by its own
attorneys, to enjoin violations of the FTC Act, ROSCA, the FCRA, and the Free Reports Rule,
and to secure such equitable relief as may be appropriate in each case, including rescission or
reformation of contracts, restitution, the refund of monies paid, and the disgorgement of ill-
gotten monies. 15 U.S.C. §§ 53(b), 56(a)(2)(A), 1681s(a)(1), and 8404(a).
- 3 -
DEFENDANTS
6. Defendant Credit Bureau Center, LLC, formerly known as MyScore LLC, and
also doing business as eFreeScore.com, CreditUpdates.com, and FreeCreditNation.com (“Credit
Bureau Center”), is a Delaware limited liability company with its registered address at 1209
Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801. Credit Bureau Center transacts or has transacted
business in this district and throughout the United States.
7. Defendant Michael Brown (“Brown”) is the owner and manager of Credit Bureau
Center. At all times material to this Complaint, acting alone or in concert with others, he has
formulated, directed, controlled, had the authority to control, or participated in the acts and
practices of Credit Bureau Center, including the acts and practices set forth in this Complaint.
Defendant Brown, in connection with the matters alleged herein, transacts or has transacted
business in this district and throughout the United States. Among other things, Defendant Brown
has controlled the processing of payments from consumers victimized by Defendants’ practices,
and has controlled the payment of Credit Bureau Center’s affiliate marketers.
8. Defendant Danny Pierce (“Pierce”) is an individual who resides in Belleville,
New Jersey. At all times material to this Complaint, acting alone or in concert with others, he
has formulated, directed, controlled, had the authority to control, or participated in the acts and
practices set forth in this Complaint. Defendant Pierce is an affiliate marketer responsible for
fake rental property ads on Craigslist and fake landlord emails used to attract consumers to
eFreeScore.com, CreditUpdates.com, and FreeCreditNation.com, and has personally received
over $2.1 million from Credit Bureau Center for driving consumer traffic to the websites.
Defendant Pierce, in connection with the matters alleged herein, transacts or has transacted
business in this district and throughout the United States.
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9. Defendant Andrew Lloyd (“Lloyd”) is an individual who resides in Beaver,
Pennsylvania. At all times material to this Complaint, acting alone or in concert with others, he
has formulated, directed, controlled, had the authority to control, or participated in the acts and
practices set forth in this Complaint. Defendant Lloyd is an affiliate marketer responsible for
fake rental property ads on Craigslist and fake landlord emails used to attract consumers to
eFreeScore.com, CreditUpdates.com, and FreeCreditNation.com, and has registered numerous
Internet domains used to generate the Craigslist ads, receive responses from consumers to the
ads, and send replies to consumers from the purported landlords. Defendant Lloyd, in
connection with the matters alleged herein, transacts or has transacted business in this district
and throughout the United States.
COMMERCE
10. At all times material to this Complaint, Defendants have maintained a substantial
course of trade in or affecting commerce, as “commerce” is defined in Section 4 of the FTC Act,
15 U.S.C. § 44.
DEFENDANTS’ BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
11. Since at least January 2014, Defendants have deceptively advertised, marketed,
promoted, and sold credit monitoring services to consumers throughout the United States.
Defendants use fake ads and landlord emails offering apartments and houses for rent to lure
consumers to websites offering purportedly “free” credit scores and reports. When consumers
visit the websites, Defendants deceive them into signing up for a negative option seven-day trial
of a credit monitoring service, after which many consumers are charged $29.94 monthly without
their authorization. Defendants’ scheme has generated more than 500 consumer complaints and
has caused millions of dollars of consumer loss.
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Defendants’ Fake Ads for Rental Properties
12. Defendants Credit Bureau Center and Brown (collectively “Credit Bureau Center
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