U.S. FCC proposes record $300 mln fine for 'auto warranty' robocalls (updated)

SumCo

21/12/2022 19:06

(Adds details, FCC comment)
    By David Shepardson
       WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday proposed a $300
million fine against an auto warranty robocall campaign, the
largest-ever penalty proposed by the agency over unwanted calls.
    The FCC said that in the scheme run by two California men,
Roy Cox, Jr. and Michael Aaron Jones via their Sumco Panama
company and other entities, more than 5 billion apparently
illegal robocalls were made to more than half a billion phone
numbers during a three-month span in 2021 "using pre-recorded
voice calls to press consumers to speak to a 'warranty
specialist' about extending or reinstating their car’s
warranty."
    A lawyer for Cox did not immediately comment. A lawyer for
Jones could not immediately be identified.
        "We will be relentless in pursing the groups behind
these schemes by limiting their access to U.S. communications
networks and holding them to account for their conduct," said
FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal.
  
    It was the latest government action targeting the robocall
operation.
        In July, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued Cox and
Jones and others alleging they orchestrated an "unlawful and
complex robocall scheme, at times besieging consumers with more
than 77 million robocalls a day to generate sales leads" --
often for fraudulent auto warranty extensions. Cox denied the
allegations in a court filing.
  
        The FCC noted that under a Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) actions both Jones and Cox are prohibited from making
telemarketing calls.
  
    In 2017, a U.S. judge in California approved default
judgments against Jones and nine companies the FTC charged with
"running an operation that blasted consumers with billions of
illegal telemarketing robocalls."
        The court permanently banned Jones and the companies
from all telemarketing activities and imposed a $2.7 million
penalty.
  
 (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and
David Gregorio)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))