Your Yellow Book, Inc.

Invoices to doctors’ offices and religious schools

Your Yellow Book, based in Oklahoma City, faxed documents that resembled invoices, carrying the well-known “walking fingers” image, to organizations it had no prior relationship with. They asked the recipient to “verify” or “update” their current listing information in the company’s internet directory, and requested payment of up to $487.

Many paid, believing their organization had already agreed to be listed. Some were told they would have to pay a fee to cancel.

The targets were small businesses, doctors’ offices, retirement homes and religious schools. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service had already issued cease-and-desist orders to two of the defendants, in 2011 and 2012, for similar conduct.

The first order

The December 2014 settlement bans the defendants from the business directory business and from misrepresenting that anyone owes money for a good or service. It imposes a $715,476 judgment, taking certain bank accounts and the proceeds of the sale of a vehicle, boat and camper owned by Dustin Law. The judgment against Brandie Law is suspended.

In July 2015 the FTC mailed 3,133 checks totaling more than $87,000.

Then he did it again

Robert Ray Law created a new company, CPU Service Incorporated, and ran what the FTC called a virtually identical scam, faxing fake invoices to nearly 150,000 small businesses seeking payment for online computer support and consulting he had not been asked to provide.

In August 2015 the FTC asked the court to hold him in contempt of the existing order. In October the court banned Law and CPU from sending unsolicited direct mail to advertise anything, imposed a judgment of almost $400,000, and required immediate payment of $45,000.

In May 2017 the FTC mailed 1,187 checks totaling more than $48,000, averaging $40.82.

What is not established

The 2014 stipulated order resolves those allegations without any admission or finding of wrongdoing. The 2015 ruling was a contempt finding on the earlier order.