Defrauded consumers got some banknote aback from the Federal Trade Commission beforehand this month.

On July 15, the FTC mailed acquittance checks of about $200 to barter who were allegedly promised a acclaim agenda that formed like a Visa or MasterCard. The cards were marketed at bodies with bad credit, who were told that the cards could be acclimated anywhere, according to antecedent reports.

The Florida-based company, Integrity Banking Enterprises, answerable an upfront fee of $200 to $300 for the cards, allegedly cogent consumers that they'd accept a reimbursement. However, the cards were alone anatomic if acclimated back affairs from a archive or Web armpit endemic by the aggregation and refunds were never issued. Those who approved to abolish were answerable abortion fees.

The FTC sued Integrity Enterprises, its buyer Robert James Fischbach, and the added companies endemic and acclimated by Fischbach to bazaar the cards -- Infinite Banking and National Benefit Exchange -- during a telemarketing artifice ambit in 2008.

The sweep, "Operation Tele-PHONEY," baldheaded 12 added cases of fraud, which afflicted added than 500,000 bodies and resulted in added than $100 actor in losses, according to an FTC columnist release.

The FTC acclimatized its complaint with Fischbach in December 2008. Fischbach has back been banned from falsely apery his cards or business in the approaching and was accustomed with a budgetary accomplished of $2.4 million. Fischbach and the companies additionally had to abandon all banking assets to the FTC.

The FTC is application these assets to accord consumers who fell victim to the scam.

Only 70 barter filed for a redress to accept budgetary compensation, according to an FTC spokesman.

It is cryptic as to how abounding bodies were afflicted by Fischbach's counterfeit cards.