LITTLE ROCK –Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is contacting school districts statewide to warn them of a predatory marketing scheme that dupes local businesses into paying hundreds of dollars for sports merchandise, t-shirts, and athletic event items such as banners and cups. These scammers tell businesses that the promotional products help sponsor or support their local teams, but the scammers are the only ones winning money in this game.
“Communities rally around their school sports teams and while these scammers may seem to be cheerleaders - they are really crooks,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Preying on the generosity of Arkansans is unacceptable and hurts our legitimate businesses’ ability to support their local schools, boosters and charitable organizations. I will not let scam artists win this game.”
The Office has received reports of an out-of-state company that is using predatory and deceptive tactics to sell local businesses promotional items that are promised to support local schools and their booster clubs. These unsolicited items are often delivered directly to the Athletic Director or simply addressed to the “Cheer Coach” or someone similar who can never use the items. As a result, the scammed business’s merchandise remains in the box where it does not benefit the school or the local business.
Attorney General Rutledge issued the following warnings:
School districts do not accept unsolicited “gifts” of spirit wear such as banners, posters, footballs, and stadium cushions.
Contact your local school’s athletic program or booster club to confirm that any items you are ordering are going to support the school’s programs.
Get confirmation from the school that the items you ordered were delivered.
A school’s name, insignia, and sports team logo are often trademarked. Unauthorized use can result in civil liability.
If your business has been scammed contact our office at (800) 482-8982 or visit ArkansasAG.gov. to file a complaint.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves as co-chairs of the National Association of Attorneys General Veterans Affairs Committee, re-established and co-chairs the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture and was the former Chairwoman of the National Association of Attorneys General Southern Region. As the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, she remains active on the Executive Board.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County