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Attorney General Madigan Sues Leroy Woman Over Scam

By WEEK Reporter
July 19, 2011 Updated Jul 19, 2011 at 10:33 PM CDT

Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a central Illinois woman who allegedly scammed McLean County businesses out of advertising space.

The suit, filed with McLean County Circuit Court, claims Holly Jones Cunningham, of Leroy, is responsible for at least $17,000 in advertisements that never ran in Just 4 Her magazine. 

"My office received multiple complaints from consumers who thought they were paying for advertisements only to learn the magazine was never published, and they'd been scammed out of thousands of dollars," Attorney General Madigan said. 

Madigan says Cunningham charged McLean County businesses anywhere from $330 to $2,900 for ad space that never made it in print, which is a violation of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

So far, six consumers have reported they were victims of Cunningham's scam.

Madigan urges potential victims of this scam to contact her office's Consumer Fraud Bureau immediately.

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