InfoUSA Challenges New York Times Facts in Scam Artists Story

InfoUSA offered clarification on “some particularly misleading assertions” made by the New York Times in a story on scammers who target elderly consumers. The story appeared on the newspaper’s front page on Sunday, May 20.

In a statement, the data compiler denied characterizing individuals on prospect lists as “gullible.” According to the Times article, “InfoUSA advertised lists of ‘Elderly Opportunity Seekers,’ 3.3 million older people ‘looking for ways to make money,’ and ‘Suffering Seniors,’ 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. ‘Oldies but Goodies” contained 500,000 gamblers over 55 years old, for 8.5 cents apiece. One list said: ‘These people are gullible. They want to believe that their luck can change.'”

But a statement from the Omaha, NE-based compiler asserted “infoUSA has never characterized individuals on lists as ‘gullible.’ Nor does infoUSA compile lists entitled ‘Elderly Opportunity Seekers,’ ‘Suffering Seniors,’ or ‘Oldies But Goodies.'”

The Times article also identified several businesses it said had either been sued or shut down for deceptive purposes, as well as a few that claimed they had resolved all complaints and were in compliance with all laws. All of these businesses, according to the Times, rented lists from infoUSA between 2001 and 2004.

According to infoUSA, “Most of the list buyers identified in the article came to Walter Karl through the acquisition of a small list brokerage company called JAMI Marketing. At one point, JAMI did serve customers seeking lists of seniors interested in sweepstakes and gaming. In response to the Iowa investigation, infoUSA exited that business. As a quick Google search of terms like “elderly opportunity seekers” will reveal, many smaller, less reputable companies (not identified in the article) still pursue this business, but infoUSA does not.”

InfoUSA did acknowledge that its “database contains several entries for a Des Moines resident named Richard Guthrie (possibly the gentleman featured in the article) but none of those entries contain age information.”

The Times article relates the story of an Iowan named Richard Guthrie, a 92-year-old who was bilked out of his life’s savings by individuals who allegedly obtained his name from infoUSA. According to the Times, Guthrie lives near Des Moines.

The infoUSA statement went beyond commenting on some of the Times’ allegations. It took the paper to task for applying sensationalism to what it characterized as a “closed inquiry.”

According to the statement, “…the New York Times story plays on public anger against these criminals and natural sympathy for their victims to imply that legitimate businesses like infoUSA are culpable. It unfairly tars the reputation of the direct marketing and banking industries by emphasizing out of all proportion the sad circumstances of a single victim of someone else’s crime. Oddly, this comes years after the authorities investigated and ultimately closed their inquiry, commending infoUSA for its cooperation.”

“We regret that the Times has chosen to recycle as ‘news’ this 3-year-old, closed inquiry by the Iowa authorities and has done so in such a misleading way,” said Vinod Gupta, infoUSA’s CEO, in the statement.