Pair of Scammers Hit With FCC's Largest-Ever Robocalling Fine, at $300 Million

pcmag.com:

The FCC is making good on a threat, and penalizing a pair of scammers $300 million for bombarding US residents with robocalls. 

After proposing the record-breaking fine in December, the FCC today officially issued(Opens in a new window) the penalty in an ongoing effort to crack down on spam and fraudulent phone calls. 

The $299,997,000 amount is the largest penalty the FCC has ever issued against a robocalling operation. The US regulator is imposing the fine against Roy M. Cox and Aaron Michael Jones for orchestrating the automated calls, which tried to trick consumers into believing their auto warranty was about to expire.

The calls were designed to dupe consumers into handing over their personal information or making a payment. According to the FCC, the scheme involved “more than 5 billion robocalls to more than 500 million phone numbers during a three-month span in 2021." The same calls also disguised the caller ID to trick consumers into answering. 

Cox(Opens in a new window) and Jones(Opens in a new window) have a long history of making illegal scam calls, which the FTC previously tried to stop. Both received lifetime bans against making telemarketing calls through lawsuits from the FTC and the State of Texas. It’s likely why the Commission is imposing a massive fine against the scammers, who were previously reported to be based in southern California. 

Both Cox and Jones were given a chance to respond to the proposed fine. But according to the FTC, neither did so, resulting in the official penalty. “Should the parties not pay the fine promptly, this matter will be referred to the US Department of Justice for collection,” the FTC added.

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