FCC fines robocaller a record $300M after blocking billions of their scam calls::The FCC ordered a record $300 million forfeiture, but whether and when that money will be paid is, as always, something of an open question.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The FCC’s robocaller penalties are growing as the agency tracks down and terminates their operations — this time resulting in a record $300 million forfeiture.
Having identified the particulars of the long-running scheme, which used the promise of selling auto warranties to collect personal information from people.
“Armed with the facts [the FCC] gave phone companies permission to cut off this traffic before going one step further and directing them to block it outright.
The FCC is limited to investigating, taking counter-actions (like asking phone companies to stop carrying certain callers), and documenting the extent of the alleged criminal activity.
A few years ago I wrote about how these fines often end up largely unpaid or drastically reduced due to loopholes and a lack of resources on the enforcers’ side.
Today’s operation is described as being “transnational,” which is not elaborated upon but strongly suggests even greater difficulties in tracking down and squeezing the money out of those responsible.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I wish hacker groups would set their sights on these robocaller companies. They used to call my mom all the goddamn time when she was well into her senior years and didn’t understand that these things were scams. We found out she somehow had NINE car warranties because they just kept calling and banking on her senility.
It was all fun and games for them until I caught one of their calls one day, yelled at the dude profusely, and made them cancel every single one.
The unfortunate fact is that these fines will probably hang around doing nothing before they can actually collect, and by then, the company will have already evolved into something else.
These aren’t some rinky dink operations, these are huge shell companies housed in office buildings with cubicles employing hundreds of scammers. It’s part of an organized crime syndicate, and somewhere along the line there’s some near-billionaire and a number of politicians behind the entire scheme. That’s what they mean by the nebulous statement of it being “transnational.”
Fines and collects are very different things. They can fine anyone they please but it really doesn’t mean much if they can’t collect it.
They will never collect. This is like busting a guy selling grams on the corner, releasing him the next day and claiming you’ve shut down the entire drug running operation.
STIR/SHAKEN should slowly start cutting back on this as it soaks in more. Fun fact: if you have an iPhone you can see which calls have passed verification if they have a check mark next to it. That means that phone number should not be spoofed and was authenticated by the originating carrier before sending to you
I recommend the death sentence for their crimes. It is easier to collect than these fines and would actually act as a deterrent.
