Robocallers Fined $225M; May be Blocked by Carriers

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined two telemarketers a record $225 million for unlawful automated "robocalls." The offenders, who used names including JSquared Telecom and Rising Eagle, made around a billion such calls in a five-month period.

The fine isn't just a record for robocalls, but is also the largest ever issued by the FCC for any reason. (Source: cnbc.com)

The calls claimed to offer health insurance plans from well-known legitimate providers. In fact the calls were made on behalf of several companies, at least one of which has already been sued for its own telemarketing violations.

Do Not Call List Abused

Posing as the legitimate provider was likely unlawful, as was the fact the telemarketers knowingly called people who'd signed up to Do Not Call lists. One of the telemarketers admitted intentionally targeting those people as it was more profitable to do so - likely because they were more likely to answer the phone, assuming incoming calls would be legitimate.

What the FCC actually issued the fine for, however, was a violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act. The telemarketers had unlawfully manipulated phone systems so that the recipients of calls saw bogus information about the supposed caller. Doing that with the intent of causing harm or gaining financially is against the law.

To make things worse, a genuine business whose ID was among those faked by the scammers was overwhelmed with people calling to complain after receiving the misleading calls.

Scam Callers May Be Blocked

The fine was approved unanimously by all four FCC commissioners. Acting chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that despite the record fine, the FCC needs to do more. She announced a new "Robocall Response Team" bringing together legal and technical experts to identify current gaps in both laws and enforcement. (Source: fcc.gov)

The FCC is also sending final warning letters to six call service providers believed to be offering robocall services that break the law. The letters give them 48 hours to stop any unlawful activity. If they don't, the FCC's first step will be to authorize phone carriers to simply block all calls from the providers.

What's Your Opinion?

Is the size of the fine justified? Is there any point in a Do Not Call list if companies can simply ignore it or will this act as a deterrent? Do you have a problem with unwanted or misleading calls?