NJ’s “Operation Empty Promises” Yields Settlement

A $130,000 settlement has been reached with a Mendham based company and its owner that were sued by the state as part of “Operation Empty Promises,” a nationwide crackdown on work-at-home scams.

The state’s investigation of David Brookman and his company, Capital Enterprises, Inc., lured consumers through ads that promised, “Get Paid From Mailing Our Special Letters From Home! Potential Earnings Of Up To $5,000 Or More Weekly!”

According to the probe, Brookman and his company never fulfilled that promise. The investigation found that of 13,000 customers, only 45 (less than 1 percent) ever made more than $100 from the envelope stuffing program. Roughly 11,000 didn’t make a penny. The most any consumer ever made from Brookman’s work-from-home scheme was $520 over a 10-month period.

“This settlement should serve as a clear cautionary note to consumers,” said acting State Attorney General John Hoffman. “When an offer seems too good to be true, especially if it’s a work-at-home ad offering thousands of dollars in return for little work, it may very well be a scam, designed to enrich a con artist while wasting your money and time.”