Victims of Telemarketing Scam Get Restitution

Orange County Superior Court has approved a restitution plan to compensate victims of an Anaheim telemarketing company, prosecutors announced Monday.

Superior Court Judge Robert Thomas approved a settlement between International Travel Bureau and the Orange County district attorney’s office in which the company would pay $50,000 in restitution to the victims, many of whom are elderly out-of-state residents.

The business, operated by Salahuddin Ahmed and Scheherazade Nasir, offered travel club memberships to senior citizens by phone, according to the district attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit. The victims were told they had won a prize such as a car, money or a stereo system. They were asked to send money to International Travel Bureau to redeem their prize or join a travel club, said prosecutor Robert C. Gannon Jr.

When the victims did not receive their prizes, they contacted local authorities.

The lawsuit was settled in July. Under that agreement, Ahmed and Nasir may not participate in any more telemarketing, Gannon said. They also agreed to pay restitution to the victims, using the $50,000 they posted with the California attorney general’s office as part of the requirements under Business and Professions Code for starting a telemarketing business.

“Never participate in sweepstakes offers either through the mail or over the phone,” Gannon said. “Many are out-and-out scams. . . . Often unscrupulous telemarketers target out-of-state elderly customers to distance themselves from problems that arise after the consumer finds out [he or she has] been scammed.”