A Canadian man, Terrence Croteau (32) of Welland, Ontario pleased guilty in May to 20 counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and a telemarketing charge. He has been ordered to serve 12 years and seven months in federal prison while repaying $2.9 million to over 6,000 customers he tricked in the telemarketing scam.

Authorities say that between 2000 and June 2004, Croteau’s employees called businesses, charities, churches, sheriff’s offices and others, offering for as much as $800 to include them in business directory listings, which ultimately were bogus. Read