Two Texans are being held responsible for all the automatic calls that never seem to go away.
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This is the largest fine the FCC has ever imposed.
The automatic calls falsely claimed that they sold short-term insurance plans from well-known health insurance companies such as Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna.
“John C. Spiller and Jakob A. Mears, who used trade names like Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, transmitted the fake automatic calls across the country during the first four and a half months of 2019,” the FCC said in a statement.
“Mr. Spiller admitted to the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group that he made millions of fake calls a day and consciously called consumers on the Don’t Call list because he believed it was more profitable to reach those consumers.”
Automatic connections have increased in recent years. It is estimated that 45.9 billion automatic calls were made in 2020, a 50% increase over 2017, reported USA Today’s Mike Snider. So, yes, you probably got more calls than usual.
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In response, the FCC announced on Wednesday that it is launching a “Robocall Response Team” to coordinate and implement new ways to keep spam callers away from their phone.
The FCC has fined telemarketers by more than $ 450 million in recent years for apparent illegal falsification of caller ID.