FTC, U.S. regulators crack down on illegal robocalls, telemarketing

Fluent

18/07/2023 17:53

By Jonathan Stempel
       July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Tuesday announced
a nationwide crackdown to stop companies from inundating people
with billions of unwanted and illegal robocalls and
telemarketing calls.
    The crackdown, known as Operation Stop Scam Calls, involves
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 101 other federal
and state law enforcement authorities, including the attorneys
general of all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
    More than 180 enforcement actions and initiatives are part
of the initiative, including five that the FTC formally
announced on Tuesday.
    "We don't know too many people out there who enjoy getting
scam calls," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC consumer
protection bureau, told reporters. "A single unwanted call is
one too many."
    In addition to targeting telemarketers, the crackdown
targets Voice over Internet Protocol providers that facilitate
robocalls, which often come from outside the country.
    Authorities also want to stop "lead generators" that trick
consumers, such as by offering free rewards or job interviews,
into providing personal information that can be sold to
telemarketers and "consent" to receive unwanted solicitations.
    Many victims are on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, which
the FTC created in 2003 and contained 246.8 million active phone
numbers as of Sept. 30, 2022.
    In one of the largest new cases, New York-based Fluent
 FLNT.O  agreed to a $2.5 million civil fine and a robocall ban.
    The accord resolved charges it operated as a "consent farm"
to trick nearly 1 million people a day into receiving pitches
for auto warranties, debt reduction, for-profit education, pain
cream, solar energy and other products and services.
    Fluent and its lawyer did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.   
    Three of the four other defendant companies agreed to $15.7
million of penalties, some of which will not be paid because
they cannot afford it. The fifth company has not settled.
    Authorities stressed that no one is immune from robocalls.
    "Robocallers are like a plague of locusts," Ohio Attorney
General Dave Yost, a Republican, told reporters. "The attorney
general also gets robocalls. It really is universal."
    

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Aurora
Ellis)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))