At last, they are doing something with these scam robocalls.
Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a crackdown on bogus robocalls related to car warranties.
U.S. telecom providers will now be required to block millions of illegal robocalls a day advertising extended vehicle warranties, the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday, taking aim at a group of individuals accused of sending more than 8 billion such messages since 2018.
Here’s what the FCC said in its order:
“Should any voice service provider fail to comply with these obligations and fail to take all necessary steps to avoid carrying suspected illegal robocall traffic made by/on behalf of these individuals and entities, that voice service provider may be deemed to have knowingly and willfully engaged in transmitting unlawful robocalls.”
FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in the early July FCC release:
“Billions of auto warranty robocalls from a single calling campaign. Billions! Auto warranty scams are one of the top complaints we get from consumers and it’s time to hold those responsible for making these junk calls.”
FCC chairwoman added:
“We are not going to tolerate robocall scammers or those that help make their scams possible. Consumers are out of patience and I’m right there with them.”
Moreover, the attorney general of Ohio also sued those believed responsible, although there have not been federal criminal charges filed in the matter, at least not yet.
According to reports, the purpose of the letter was to “provide actual written notice to all voice service providers about suspected illegal robocalls that have been made in violation of one or more provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, the Truth In Caller ID Act of 2009, and/or the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) of 2019, collectively codified in section 227 of the Communications Act.”
As part of its robocalls scheme, the group bought access to nearly half a million phone numbers from more than 200 area codes in the fall and winter of 2020, the FCC said, and then used them to make it appear to recipients that the robocalls were coming from local numbers.
The Daily Wire cited some examples of the robocalls scam:
In one case, two men by the names of Roy Melvin Cox Jr. of Tustin, California, and Aaron Michael Jones of Orange County, California, are accused of sending more than eight billion robocalls through an operation known as Sumco Panama S.A and Sumco Panama, Inc.
These two men are accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Cox’s and Jones’ calls allegedly “displayed inaccurate or misleading caller identification, with an apparent intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain something of value, in violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act and section 64.1604 of the Commission’s rules,” the FCC noted.
The individuals in question also reportedly “purchased nearly 500,000 numbers from at least 229 area codes in November and December 2020 apparently to make the calls appear to consumers as if they were originating locally.”
Authorities say that approximately “75% of FCC complaints which listed caller ID pertained to numbers that matched the consumer’s area code, belonged to area codes adjacent to the consumer’s area code, or belonged to an area code in the same state.”