The Federal Trade Commission has entered into an enforcement action with a group of companies that will require them to repay $1 million in consumer refunds after falsely promising to consumers that they could make millions in telemarketing sales.
Who’s Involved: The companies were owned by Taylor Welch and Christopher Evans. Payton Welch and Ashton Shanks worked there as employees. The companies involved are: WE Capital, LLC; Traffic and Funnels, LLC; and Evans and Welch Holdings, LLC.
What They Have to Do: As a result of the consent order, the companies are:
- Prohibited from making deceptive earnings claims
- Prohibited from deceiving consumers
- Required to turn over money. Taylor Welch will turn over $600,000 and Evans $400,000.
The actual monetary judgment against the defendants is for $16,363,073.11, but most of that has been suspended because the defendants don’t have the money to repay it. Consumers allegedly paid more than $29 million to the defendants between 2018 and 2022.
What They Did: The defendants are accused of running a scheme called “The Sales Mentor” where they deceived consumers into paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for telemarketing training programs that were rarely, if ever, delivered. Videos promoting the scheme told consumers that the field of telemarketing sales could earn incomes of up to $20,000 per month. They also claimed to have access to a waiting list of companies looking to hire consumers who completed the program.
The Last Word: “Traffic and Funnels lured people looking to work and earn an income with false or unfounded earnings claims, even after receiving legal notices from the FTC about the illegality of such conduct,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will continue to crack down on deceptive earnings claims that cheat consumers.”
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