Swindlers Running A Subscription Scam Forced To Pay $16 Million

Earlier today, the Attorney General announced the victory, a victory that has meant a red-letter day for more than 68,000 New Yorkers that were unwitting victims of this fraudulent and illegal scam, that swindled people of their hard-earned money. The New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the people of New York, awarding them more than $16 million in compensation, to be paid to the New York State in restitution and penalties. The court also permanently prohibited the ring of New York and Oregon companies, as well as one individual, involved in the scam from any direct mail marketing in the future.

“The subscription to New Yorkers’ hard-earned money is canceled for these deceptive magazine and newspaper companies,” Attorney General James was quoted saying. “This decision sends a message that, as the nation’s media headquarters, New York will not serve as a safe haven for those who aim to cheat, scam, and defraud our consumers. This is an important victory for the millions of New York consumers, who could have been victims in the future.”

In 2015, The New York Attorney General’s office filed a legal case against Orbital Publishing Group, Inc., along with its related New York and Oregon companies. The lawsuit sought damages for the millions of unauthorized and misleading magazine and newspaper subscription notices that were mailed to unsuspecting consumers nationwide, over the course of three years. The misleading solicitations gave the appearance of coming directly from renowned publications such as Consumer Reports, The Economist, Entertainment Weekly, Forbes, The Nation, National Geographic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Time, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, Orbital Publishing and its ring of companies were the ones behind the mailings. The publications in whose names the solicitations were being sent, were unaware of the illegal act. Upon discovery, the publishers sent several cease and desist letters to Orbital Publishing and its sister concerns, all of which were ignored.

The solicitations promised subscribers ‘lowest rates’ and ‘discounts’, while the scammers charged many consumers more than double the original subscription rate. Orbital Publishing would pocket the difference in the sums. They also made information difficult to understand by failing to “clearly, conspicuously, understandably and readably” mention the subscription expiration dates on their renewal solicitations — a requirement of New York law — this resulted in many consumers renewing their subscriptions long before expiry.

The DA’s office was not the only one bringing a lawsuit against the notorious group of companies, they were also being sued by The Federal Trade Commission, in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in 2016. In 2019, a ruling was made in the FTC case and the ring of companies was permanently prohibited from soliciting through direct mail. It was further ruled that they would pay $8.9 million in damages. The related companies subject of the New York DA’s office’s lawsuit were Liberty Publishers Service, Inc.; Express Publishers Service, Inc.; Associated Publishers Network, Inc.; Adept Management, Inc.; Publishers Payment Processing, Inc.; Customer Access Services, Inc.; Consolidated Publishers Exchange, Inc.; Magazine Clearing Exchange, Inc.; and Henry Cricket Group, LLC. Lydia Pugsley was one of the individuals ruled to be personally liable, as she was the owner of Adept Management, Inc. and served as a consultant for several of the companies named in the lawsuit.