Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit against B.E.S.T. GDR LLC, doing business as Premium Home Service, and its Chief Executive Officer Yosef Bernath, alleging the business created thousands of online business profiles for home repair companies that did not exist. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) joined Raoul in filing the lawsuit against the online business based in Westchester, Illinois.
The Attorney General’s office collaborated with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DOJ on the lawsuit.
Raoul’s lawsuit alleges Premium Home Service’s scheme lures consumers in with local phone numbers for what consumers think are local home repair businesses; the defendants allegedly maintained over 7,600 telephone numbers in over 250 area codes across the U.S. Consumers may find one of the defendants businesses listed at the top of an online search, as the defendants use search engine optimization techniques to promote higher placement in search results…