Pennsylvania’s Office of the Attorney General announced a settlement forbidding a Colorado-based generator from selling residents’ information to telemarketing companies, according to a release published Thursday, Feb. 22.

Shopgala LLC, which also operates as Surveys2cash, obtained the information from people who registered for free samples or payment upon the completion of online surveys.

According to state Attorney General Michelle Henry, those offers did not clearly convey consumer information could be sold to telemarketers.

“Thousands of consumers registering for free samples had no idea they were also signing on for invasive and disruptive telemarketing calls,” she said.

The settlement states Shopgala will pay $25,000 to the Office of the Attorney General to be used for public protection and education services.

According to the release, the settlement discourages Shopgala from selling or sharing data unless it was acquired in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Telemarketing Sales Rule.

“’Do Not Call’ means just that, and my office will continue to do all we can to aggressively target those who illegally and carelessly cross those boundaries,” Henry said.

The settlement was filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas by Senior Deputy Attorney General Amy L. Schulman of the Pittsburgh Regional Office.

If you are on the Pennsylvania “Do-Not-Call” List and you receive unwanted and unsolicited calls from telemarketers, file a complaint through attorneygeneral.gov or contact the Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or by emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov.