Attorney General Ford and FTC Sue Tax Debt Relief Scammers Posing as Government Agencies, Making False Claims and Threatening Consumers

American Tax Service allegedly promised fake tax debt relief and pocketed tens of millions of consumers’ dollars

Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced that he and the Federal Trade Commission have partnered to sue American Tax Services (“ATS”) and its operators, Terrance Selb and Tyler Bennett, as well as seven affiliated entities. The FTC and Nevada allege the company’s operators falsely claimed they could settle taxpayers’ back taxes for “pennies on the dollar” or for only a “fraction” of what taxpayers’ owed, often making these claims before evaluating the taxpayer’s circumstances.

The federal court issued a Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the tax debt relief scammers from falsely impersonating government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, deceptively promising tax debt relief, sending threats to consumers about their debts and pocketing tens of millions of consumers’ dollars. Thanks to the help of U.S. Postal Inspection Services, FTC and Nevada were able to serve the TRO on the company at both its Nevada and California offices.

“My office will not stand for companies exploiting Nevadans,” said Attorney General Ford. “I’m proud that our office, in partnership with the FTC, has secured a temporary restraining order to stop this company from continuing its deceptive and harmful practices. Protecting vulnerable Nevadans from scams and keeping money in their pockets will always be a top priority for our office.”

The FTC and Nevada filed a complaint against American Tax Services (ATS) and its operators, Terrance Selb and Tyler Bennett, as well as seven affiliated entities. The complaint alleges the company’s operators falsely claimed they could settle taxpayers’ back taxes for “pennies on the dollar” or for only a “fraction” of what taxpayers’ owed, often making these claims before evaluating the taxpayer’s circumstances.

Since at least 2021, ATS, Selb and Bennett have misled consumers by mailing deceptive and threatening letters that impersonate the government to solicit inbound telemarketing calls. ATS’s operators also made false claims about their tax debt relief services and failed to fulfill their promises such as refusing to provide refunds to dissatisfied consumers who requested one.

The complaint notes that ATS sales representatives misled consumers about the severity of their tax debt issues to scare them into paying for ATS’s tax debt relief services with some consumers saying that ATS operators falsely claimed that the IRS was investigating them or that the IRS “red flagged” their account or marked it as “high risk.” Once consumers agreed to pay for ATS’s services, the operators of the scheme did little, if any, of the promised work and rarely, if ever, obtained the promised results.

The ATS operators contacted consumers through telemarketing calls or in response to inbound calls resulting from direct mail and online ads. The FTC and Nevada allege the defendants engaged in multiple illegal activities, including:

• impersonating the government including local, state, or federal tax authorities; 
• making false promises that they could reduce consumers’ tax debt; and 
• violating the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule requirements by making misrepresentations in telemarketing calls.

The FTC alleges that ATS’s conduct violated the FTC Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Impersonation Rule. The State of Nevada alleges that ATS’s conduct also violated Nevada law.

The FTC and the State of Nevada filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against American Tax Service LLC, American Tax Solutions, American Tax Solutions LLC, ATS Tax Group LLC, Elite Sales Solutions, GetATaxLawyer.com LLC, TNT Holdings Group LLC, TNT Services Group LLC, TNT Tax Associates Inc., and individual defendants Selb and Bennett.

Copies of the complaint and the Temporary Restraining Order are attached.

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