A record-breaking $300 million fine has been proposed today by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission against an auto warranty robocall operation.
According to PC Mag, through billions of calls to US consumers, the robocaller operation run by a pair of California residents promoted auto warranty scams.
This Is The Largest Robocall Operation Ever Investigated
The fine targets a robocall operation that the FCC linked back to Roy Cox, Jr. and Aaron Michael Jones.
The pair was accused of using their "Sumco Panama" business to allegedly bombard US consumers with eight billion robocalls starting in at least 2018.
"Today's proposed fine is the largest such action in the FCC's history largely because the FCC found that the robocallers met the agency's criteria for egregious violations," the regulator says.
Their robocall sales lead generation scheme was created to sell vehicle service contracts that were falsely marketed as car warranties during phone calls that were described as harassing and nonstop.
The FCC claims that the robocall operation promoted a scam in which a customer's auto warranty was allegedly about to expire, and they could speak with a specialist about extending it.
The Commission also asserted that the robocalls were probably made to trick people into disclosing their personal information or to trick them into sending money.
In 2021, this robocall scheme placed more than 5 billion calls to more than 500 million different numbers using pre-recorded voice calls.
On Wednesday, the Commission voted to punish Cox and Jones for being the masterminds of the scams, claiming that the automated calls broke the law by breaking the prohibitions on robocalling and phone spoofing.
"We propose the largest forfeiture in our history against the perpetrators of this complex scheme, which includes entities based in Hungary and Panama," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Roscenworcel says in a statement.
Read More: US Attorneys General To Investigate, Sue Telecoms Enabling Robocalls to the US
The Decision Is Not Yet Finalized
PC Mag reports that Cox and Jones will have a chance to respond and contest the suggested punishment and the supporting evidence.
It is important to note that the largest FCC fine to date appears to be a $225 million fine levied against a Texas-based robocall operation, which holds the previous record.
Because of this, the regulator has also launched a new internet portal where private businesses and individuals can notify the US regulator about alleged robocalls in an effort to further combat the issue.
With this new tool, the FCC will be able to support organizations and businesses that experience robocall overload or have their hard-earned brand recognition damaged as a result of fake numbers.
During the COVID pandemic, similar robocalls also reached healthcare workers and impersonated hospital phone numbers.
Bleeping Computer writes that these robocalls were prompting recipients in the healthcare field to call back and block the hospitals' phone lines.
Today's proposal follows the FCC's order from May 2020, which states that it will no longer warn robocallers before fining them for breaking the law and harassing American consumers.
The same order extended the period of time within which robocallers can be fined to four years since they violated FCC rules and increased the maximum penalty for each intentionally unlawful robocall to $10,000.
The FCC's fight against malicious robocalls was sparked by an action call issued by Attorney Generals from 35 states in 2018, who urged the agency to stop the rise of robocalls that people receive.
Related Article: FCC Says Small Telecoms Must Implement a Special Caller ID Authentication Tool To Help Identify Spam Calls
