Attorney General's News Release

August 2, 2006

Nixon sues California online dating service for making telemarketing calls to Missourians on state's No Call list

St. Louis, Mo. — A California online dating service has been ordered to stop making telemarketing calls to Missourians on the state's No Call list. Attorney General Jay Nixon obtained a temporary restraining order on Tuesday (Aug. 1) against Luvoo.com, of Tujunga, Calif., after more than 140 Missourians on the No Call list reported receiving telemarketing calls during June soliciting memberships to the dating service.

“This service has been blanketing Missouri with telemarketing calls and apparently paying no heed to our No Call law,” Nixon said. “We're going to remain vigilant in enforcing the state's No Call law and providing Missourians with peace and quiet, as we have for the past five years the law's been in effect.”

Nixon is suing Luvoo.com; its owner, Lourdes Y. Van Hoek; and a third company, Telephone Management Corporation, for making the telemarketing calls in violation of the No Call law. Nixon said the telemarketing calls from the defendants did not fit under any of the exemptions under the law.

The temporary restraining order signed by Circuit Judge Lisa Van Amburg prohibits the defendants from calling Missourians on the No Call list or from knowingly using any method to block or otherwise circumvent a consumer's caller ID service.

Nixon is asking for preliminary and permanent injunctions against the defendants to prevent them from further violations of the No Call law. He also is asking the court to order them to pay appropriate penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, as well as the costs associated with bringing the lawsuit.

To date, almost 2.3 million Missouri residential telephone numbers are on the No Call list, and Nixon's office has collected more than $1.7 million from telemarketers that violated the law.

Missourians not yet on the No Call list may register their home phone numbers at no cost by going online to www.ago.mo.gov and clicking on the No Call icon or by calling toll free 1-866 NO CALL 1 (1-866-662-2551).

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to the Communications Office.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818