COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit in Defiance County against four people who ran an unregistered business that sold fishing lures that it routinely failed to deliver and signed up customers to a monthly subscription service they had never agreed to join.

To date, 84 consumers have filed complaints against the National Anglers Association (NAA), led by Cole Dockery, Jakob Schoenauer, Alexandria McGlaughlin and Wyatt Puffinberger, all of northwest Ohio.

NAA is not registered as a business with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, nor is it affiliated with the legitimate National Professional Anglers Association (NPAA).

“These shady business practices are unacceptable,” Yost said. “NAA lured consumers in, then hooked them with supplies they didn’t want or ask for.”

NAA used a variety of online and social media platforms to advertise, saying it partnered with small businesses across the United States to provide high-quality lures and bait. Consumers could make individual purchases or sign up for a monthly subscription program.

Some consumers have complained to the Northwestern Ohio Better Business Bureau (BBB) ​​that they were unknowingly enrolled in the subscription program after ordering individual fishing lures. In addition, consumers complained that NAA made misleading statements in its advertising, failed to deliver goods or services, and failed to provide refunds.

The Northwestern Ohio BBB referred the complaints to Yost’s Consumer Protection Section.

“Since the COVID pandemic, BBB has seen a serious increase in consumer complaints buying from unknown companies selling on social media like Facebook and Instagram,” said Dick Eppstein, president of Northwestern Ohio BBB. “In this case, the BBB suddenly started receiving complaints about the National Anglers Association. When this happens, we fear that many other victims will also be cheated and the situation could be serious.

That’s why we forwarded our concerns and complaints to the Ohio Attorney General’s office. We were concerned that the company would violate the law and that many consumers would lose money.

The consumer protection investigation found that many payment platforms refused to allow program leader Dockery to continue accepting payments due to numerous chargebacks and shipping issues. When this happened, another defendant opened an account to accept payments on behalf of NAA.

NAA no longer appears to be in business, but if you believe you have been the victim of NAA or another unfair or deceptive marketing practice, contact the Ohio Attorney General’s office at www.OhioProtects.org or 1 -800-282-0515.