The Price is NOT Right

In Ottawa on December 18th, 2009 the Competition Bureau announced that the Ontario Superior Court imposed a record $15,000,000 fine against DataCom Marketing Inc. for operating a business directory scam targeting Canadian and U.S businesses. From 1994 to 2005 a Toronto based DataCom tricked many businesses into believing that they had already ordered a business directory listing and using deceptive scripts and agressive tactics. Victim businesses lost hundreds of dollars each while the scam netted $12.9 million dollars in profit. The founder and former president of DataCom, Bernard Fromstein, was previously sentenced to two years in jail, three years probation and a 10-year ban on telemarketing activities. Another senior manager, Paul Barnard, received a two-year conditional sentence after cooperating in the investigation. The fine represents a record amount under the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act.