On May 19, 2015, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered a federal court to temporarily halt a sweepstakes scam organization that stole over $28 million from consumers in the United States 
, Australia 
, Canada 
, France 
, Germany 
, Japan 
and Great Britain 
. The culprits responsible have been identified as Mailtree, Inc. at 4180 Northeast Fifth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33334, though they also operated as
- Spin Mail, Inc.
- MCP Marketing Activities, LLC, DBA “Magellan Mail” and “Magellan Marketing”
- Trans National Concepts, Inc.
- Romeria Global, LLC, DBA “Lowenstein, Varick and Nagel”
- Supreme Media, LLC
- Vernier Holdings, Inc.
- Awards Research Consultant, LLC
- Masterpiece Marketing, LLC, DBA “Affiliated Opportunities Group,” “Corporate Accounting Authority,” “Dispatch Notification Services,” “Information Reporting Group,” “National Directory Center” and "Priority Information Exchange.
- The scammers have sent personalized letters falsely claiming the recipients won large cash prizes, but needed to mail them $20-30 back within 10 days in order to collect their nonexistent “winnings.”
- The company and their owners, Matthew Pisoni, Marcus Pradel and John Leon, agreed to a settlement on June 21, 2024, permanently barring them from being involved in any sweepstakes or prize promotion and making use of any consumer information they acquired from their scam.
- The three have served a 3.5-7 year prison sentence alongside Victor Ramirez after being convicted for conspiring to commit mail fraud.