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Robocaller confronted by 25 Investigates facing new charges

BOSTON — The man once labeled as a "recidivist robocaller" by investigators is facing new federal charges, less than a year after 25 Investigates uncovered his latest telemarketing operation in Florida.

The Federal Trade Commission cited Justin Ramsey's comments to Boston 25 News in a new complaint that charges him, his company, Point Break Media LLC, and its partners with deceiving small business owners by falsely threatening to remove them from Google search results

Ramsey had already been banned by the FTC from making robocalls to consumers when 25 Investigates found him running a new telemarketing business in Boca Raton, Florida in October 2017.

RELATED: 25 Investigates tracks down the people behind those annoying robocalls

At that time, Ramsey told Investigative Reporter Eric Rasmussen he was following "all the rules."

When asked if he was still making robocalls, Ramsey replied "no."

"We do Google listings," said Ramsey.

Those "Google listings" are now the focus of the FTC's federal complaint, alleging deceptive representations and unfair billing practices.

Despite Ramsey's comments to 25 Investigates, federal investigators say call operators with Ramsey's company falsely claimed to work for Google and warned business owners they could be removed from search results if they didn't pay one-time fees often ranging from $300 to $700. The complaint says Google does not charge businesses for "claiming and verifying" their business with the search engine.

Around the same time 25 Investigates questioned Ramsey about his operation, the FTC's complaint says his business had lost the ability to process credit card payments and took money directly from customers' bank accounts without their knowledge, consent, or authorization.

The FTC declined to comment to Boston 25 News about the pending case against Ramsey, but in a news release, the agency said, "The court has appointed a temporary receiver over the operation and has frozen the defendants’ assets during litigation. The FTC seeks to end the alleged illegal practices and obtain money for return to consumers."