Old Man Says Telemarketers Scammed Him

CLEVELAND (CN) – A 78-year-old man says telephone solicitors conned him out of $5,000. He claims the Internet Strategies Group “fast talked” him into giving his credit card number and promised not to bill his Discover Card until he signed an agreement – but it did.     Gilbert Blase claims Internet Strategies Group aka National Marketing Concepts took $159.90 from him on May 19, 2008, and another $5,000 two days later, before he had signed any of its printed forms. The money allegedly was for a “website advertising program,” that Blase says was “a fraudulent, get rich quick scheme.”     Blase says that co-defendant Discover Financial Services paid the telephone scammers despite his stop-payment request, and then reported his account as delinquent to credit reporting agencies.      Blase claims that Internet Strategies Group is not properly registered in Ohio and claimed bankruptcy and “cash flow problems” after he reached a settlement with it. It still owes him the $5,000, Blase says.     He is represented in Cuyahoga County Court by Mark Glinski.