The FCC Enforcement Bureau has ordered phone companies to stop carrying robocalls known to be auto warranty scams.
As we covered earlier this month, the FCC says the calls are coming from Roy Cox, Jr., Aaron Michael Jones, their Sumco Panama companies and international associates.
At that time, the FCC sent cease-and-desist letters to eight voice service providers to warn them to stop carrying this suspicious traffic. These carriers have yet to respond, prompting the Enforcement Bureau to direct all other carriers to refuse to carry this traffic.
Under the Enforcement Bureau’s action, all voice carriers must now take all necessary steps to avoid carrying this robocall traffic. Any carrier failing to stop the traffic must report to the FCC regularly regarding the steps they are taking to mitigate these calls.
The most recent action is only one undertaken by the FCC in an attempt to stem the growing tide of illegal robocalls. According to the regulator, this effort has resulted in:
- Record-breaking spoofing and robocall fines;
- Widespread implementation of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication standards
- The establishment of robocall investigation partnerships with 41 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam
“Auto warranty” scam robocalls resulted in more consumer complaints to the FCC than any other unwanted call category each of the last two years, the regulator said in a press release about the FCC auto warranty action. “These calls usually claim your insurance or warranty is about to expire and they frequently use consumers’ real information in order to appear legitimate. These calls may be seeking consumers’ personal or financial information in order to defraud them, hoping to initiate a payment, and/or garnering information about active phones.”
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel 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.”
