The Competition Bureau announced today that Canadian and American law enforcement agencies have arrested and charged telemarketing operators at four locations in Toronto and Calgary, for allegedly running credit card boiler rooms.

The victims, mainly Americans with poor credit history, were contacted by telemarketers offering them Visa or MasterCard cards, for an upfront fee of US$279 to US$319. They were also enticed into providing bank account and other personal information in order to obtain the credit card. Visa and MasterCard in Canada and the U.S. have confirmed they have no affiliation with the telemarketing companies.

The bureau reports that the victims’ bank accounts were debited, but no one received the credit card or other promotions offered. It is estimated that the deceptive telemarketing operations allegedly defrauded Americans of more than US$12.5 million.

On September 26, the Toronto Strategic Partnership (which includes the Competition Bureau, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, the Royal Canadian, Ontario’s Ministry of Government Services, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the UK’s Office of Fair Trading) shut down an alleged boiler room operating as Centurion Financial Services, and arrested several telemarketers.

Charges have been laid under the Competition Act and the Criminal Code by Toronto police against the principals. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Also yesterday, the Alberta Partnership Against Cross-Border Fraud (comprised of Alberta Government Services, Calgary Police Service, Competition Bureau, Edmonton Police Service, RCMP, U.S. FTC and U.S. Postal Inspection) shut down the Calgary-based operation of Centurion Financial Services and made several arrests.