InfoUSA denies report on scam artists

OMAHA, Neb. --Omaha database company InfoUSA Inc. denied facilitating fraud Monday after a newspaper report accused the firm of selling personal information to criminal firms that swindled senior citizens.

In its Sunday edition, The New York Times said InfoUSA, which compiles consumer information and sells it to direct marketing companies and others, sold the names of senior citizens, including millions with Alzheimer's disease and others whom it identified as gamblers, with labels that said things such as, "These people are gullible."

The companies that bought the information plied lonely people with repeated phone calls, "tricked" them into revealing banking information, and later raided their accounts, the Times reported.

InfoUSA Chief Financial Officer Stormy Dean said the company does everything it can to ensure it does not do business with scam artists. And the company has never characterized individuals on lists as "gullible."

The newspaper's story was partly based on a three-year-old Iowa investigation with which InfoUSA cooperated. The story noted that InfoUSA had not been formally accused of wrongdoing, and the company said it was cleared in the Iowa investigation.

"We reiterate today what we said to the Iowa authorities three years ago: There are many legitimate reasons for direct marketing to senior citizens," the company said in a statement.

Dean said he didn't respond to questions from the Times before the story ran because the reporter was asking about the Iowa case, which the company considered settled and didn't want to discuss.

The Times story said the telemarketing industry recorded more than $177 billion in sales last year. That figure has grown by more than $4.5 billion in the past three years since federal do-not-call restrictions passed.

Shares of InfoUSA's stock fell 33 cents, or about 3 percent, Monday to close at $10.31.

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On the Net:

InfoUSA Inc.: http://www.infousa.com

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com