Authorities in Canada and the United States are launching a cross-border attack on telemarketing fraud aimed at pitches ranging from advance-fee loans to low-cost household products.

Two Montreal-firms are facing charges in the U.S. as a result of the initiative.

Canada's Competition Bureau and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced the crackdown Tuesday. The FTC says the move represents the largest cross-border telemarketing fraud sweep ever co-ordinated by the agency.

Under the operation, the FTC has filed federal district court complaints against 13 allegedly deceptive telemarketing operations.

In many cases, U.S. federal courts have temporarily frozen defendants' assets and suspended their operations. In the case of the two Montreal-based operations, the FTC has asked the courts to shut them down.

According to the FTC, Med Provisions of Montreal allegedly called consumers in the U.S. claiming it could save them 30 to 50 per cent on prescription drug costs. The defendants claimed to operate an online pharmacy and offered a 30-day money-back "guarantee" on their "membership package," which cost $389 US.

Some consumers also were told they would lose their Medicare benefits if they did not sign up for the package, said the FTC. Many consumers who did order the package received nothing, and those who received something got a worthless card from an organization that "supposedly" could provide Canadian drugs to U.S. consumers, the FTC said.

According to the FTC, all of the organization's claims are false, and many consumers could not get a refund. The Canadian Competition Bureau helped investigate this case.

Med Provisions did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

Meanwhile, the second-Montreal based organization allegedly telemarketed worthless medical discount packages to elderly consumers throughout the U.S., said the FTC.

The FTC charges that the second Montreal organization uses deceptive means to persuade consumers to reveal their bank account information, often pretending they were calling from the Social Security Administration, Medicare or the consumers' bank.

In some cases, it offered "free" benefits or claimed to offer a medical discount plan that would save the consumer money on medical care and prescriptions for a one-time fee. The company then debited $399 US from the consumers' bank accounts and sent them a package containing a prescription discount card that does not work, the FTC said.