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West Palm man Tamayo pleads guilty to cramming scam

By Palm Beach Business.com

WEST PALM BEACH — A West Palm Beach con man faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to a “cramming” scam that billed consumers for a texting service without their knowledge.

Steven Tamayo of West Palm Beach admitted to running a company called Text-Savings Inc. that promised to text consumers information about local restaurants and stores for a small fee. In reality, the only operation Text-Savings had was billing customer for services they never ordered or received.

Tamayo held himself out as the CEO, owner and president of Text-Savings but in reality, he fronting for a notorious con man named Willoughby Farr, who was in the Palm Beach County Jail awaiting trial on another cramming scam, prosecutor said.  Inc. In reality, Text-Savings billed thousands of consumers for services that consumers neither ordered nor received.

Tamayo took direction from Farr on how to operate the business and how to respond to regulatory questions and consumer complaints.

Farr ultimately received a 21-year prison sentence for the scam.

Tamayo is scheduled to be sentenced for conspiracy to commit mail fraud on April 15, a charge that carries a maximum of 5 years in prison, fines, and restitution.

Text-Savings charges appeared on selected AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest telephone bills from December 2009 through May 2010. Consumers are encouraged to review their bills for those months to if they were victims of the scam.

Text-Savings charges typically stated: “TEXTSAVINGS,LLC-INET DIR LSTNG W/TEXT." Charges were typically in small amounts — about $10 — so as to avoid notice by consumers.

A consumer who finds a false bill for Text-Savings may contact the U.S. attorney's office victim/witness unit to learn about their rights as crime victims.

 

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