PORTLAND — A federal judge has ordered an Oregon man to stop the online sale or marketing of fake bank statements, fake tax forms, falsified bank statements and other bogus documents through the website noveltyexcuses.com.
“Are you in a jam?” the website’s Facebook page advertised. “We provide authentic fake forms that are high quality and proven to work.”
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman issued the permanent injunction Tuesday in Portland following a settlement reached between the Federal Trade Commission and the Beaverton-based Integrated Flight Solutions.
The federal regulatory agency filed a complaint this month against Integrated Flight Solutions and owner Steven Simmons, alleging they have been selling a variety of bogus financial, identity and medical documents on the website.
The documents included pay stubs, auto insurance cards, utility and cable bills, doctors’ excuses and medical absence reports sold for $19.95 on the website from 2013 until October 2017, according to the commission.
Noveltyexcuses.com’s home page, which has since been taken down, had advertised, “Authentic fake forms! Quality! Proven to Work!”
On its Facebook page, the company promised the fake forms could be downloaded instantly.
Simmons agreed to the prohibitions, the commission noted in a press release. He didn’t return messages for comment.
“The sale of fake documents makes it easy for identity thieves and scammers to ply their trade,” Andrew Smith, director of the commission’s consumer protection bureau, said in a statement.
The injunction prohibits Simmons, Integrated Flight Solutions or any of its employees from providing to anyone a document or instrument that enables the misrepresentation of someone’s identity, residency, finances, taxes or employment.
Mosman also ordered Simmons and his company to pay the federal commission $15,000, which may be help consumers affected by the use of the fraudulent documents.
The payment, however, was suspended because of Simmons inability to pay, according to the commission. The full amount will be due if Simmons later is found to have misrepresented his finances.
In a year, Simmons must submit a compliance report, identifying all his businesses and their operations.
For five years, Simmons must deliver a copy of Mosman’s order to all managers or principals of his business. For the next 20 years, he must retain his company’s accounting and personnel records and records of any consumer complaints, according to the judge’s order.
