IL-AG v. B.E.S.T. GDR LLC

B.E.S.T. GDR LLC, doing business as Premium Home Service, and its Chief Executive Officer Yosef Bernath, allegedly created thousands of online business profiles for home repair companies that may not have existed. According to Raoul’s lawsuit, Premium Home Service falsely claims to have thousands of brick-and-mortar businesses around the country, offering common home repair services. The suit alleges Premium Home Service created online home repair company business profiles, typically using made-up names that frequently were not registered to do business. Many of the fake companies’ positive reviews and five-star ratings are alleged to have been fabricated by Premium Home Service or those acting on its behalf. Raoul’s lawsuit alleges Premium Home Service’s scheme appears to lure 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. When consumers call what they think are local businesses, their calls are routed to customer service representatives who typically are located overseas. The representatives appear to attempt to sell consumers either a membership or a one-time fee for a service call, frequently collecting debit or credit card information when a sale is made. The defendants then may outsource consumers’ service requests to third-party service providers. Many consumers have complained that such providers are unqualified, provide subpar services, or fail to show up at all. Well over 100,000 consumers nationwide may have been deceived into calling and purchasing home repair services and memberships since at least 2018.

Summary generated from official Illinois Attorney General press release