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Show Kuwaiti ad stopped by state SALT LAKE CITY Quick action on the part of state consumer protection officials prevented people peo-ple in at least eight Utah cities from being bilked out of their money by a fraudulent ad enlisting aid to rebuild war-torn Kuwait. The Utah Commerce Department Division of Consumer Protection reached agreement with UAC Referral Re-ferral Company to cease soliciting construction workers, for employment employ-ment in Kuwait. The division alleged the principals prin-cipals of the company, Trevor J. Adrian and York Chandler, had placed ads in large daily newspapers all over the country offering to aid people in landing lucrative jobs in Kuwait for a fee. Workers were told in the ads they could earn as much as $57.50 per hour for short and long-term assignments in Kuwait City, and ads listed some specific licensed trades that were needed. Respondents were asked to send $20 to a Salt Lake City post office box. Without admitting any violations, Adrian and Chandler signed an Assurance of Voluntary with the division, thereby agreeing to comply comp-ly with the Consumer Sales Practices Prac-tices Act. They have since closed their business. "Because of a tip we received, we were able to take fast action and prevent many people from getting ripped-off," stated David Buhler, executive director of the Department Depart-ment of Commerce, in a prepared release. "However, there may be other similar schemes that will exploit ex-ploit the problems in the Persian Gulf and consumers should be on the alert.' All response mail to the ads placed plac-ed by UAC have been returned to senders unopened by postal authorities. |