The FCC fined Texas-based telemarketers $225 million—the largest robocall fine in the agency’s history—for transmitting approximately 1 billion robocalls, many of them illegally spoofed, to sell short-term, limited duration health insurance plans. Because of this case and others, Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said she’s reinvigorating the Commission’s efforts to end illegal robocalls with the creation of a special team.
The Texas robocalls falsely claimed to offer health insurance plans from health insurance companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna. The agency said John C. Spiller and Jakob A. Mears, who used business names including Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, transmitted the spoofed robocalls across the country during the first four and-a-half months of 2019. Spiller admitted to the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group that he made millions of spoofed calls per day and knowingly called consumers on the Do Not Call list as he thought it was more profitable to target them. Rising Eagle made the calls on behalf of clients. The largest, Health Advisors of America, was sued by the Missouri Attorney General for telemarketing violations in February 2019, according to the Commission.
Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said during the 4-0 vote that many of these calls involve scams. In this case, “The individuals involved did not just lie about who they were when they made their calls, they said they were calling on behalf of well-known health insurance companies on more than one billion calls. That is fraud at an enormous scale.”
Given the size and scope of the robocall problem, the FCC has to do more to combat the problem, according to Rosenworcel. “That’s why I am announcing today the creation of a robocall response team at the FCC.”
More than 50 engineers and analysts from several bureaus will work on the team. While many have worked on robocall issues before, this will be a more coordinated effort, she said. “We are putting in place a structure that allows us to think more broadly and act more boldly.”
The Robocall Response Team will meet regularly with input directly from the Acting Chairwoman’s office. It will begin with a review of foreign policies, looking for gaps that need to be closed. Rosenworcel said the agency is sending six robocalled cease and desist letters “to providers that appear to be facilitating illicit robocalls.”
The FCC has warned providers they have 48 hours to top transmitting illegal robocalls, the number one consumer complaint to the Commission. “If they don’t act, we will authorize other carriers to block the unwanted traffic,” she said. Rosenworcel also vowed the FCC would redouble efforts to get providers to get “these junk calls” off their networks. The Acting Chairwoman is also writing the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General to reaffirm the FCC’s interest in coordinating to crack down on robocalls. She would like to expand the efforts to include additional law enforcement partners in the future.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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