Telecom watchdog US wants to fine $ 300 million against robocall company

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to fine $299,997,000 against “the largest robocall company ever investigated by the watchdog.” If imposed, the fine would be the largest fine the FCC has issued to date.

According to the FCC, two Americans are behind the robocall operation, which was carried out from their company Cox/Jones Enterprise. The regulator bases the fine on the scale of the scam campaign. Cox/Jones Enterprise reportedly made more than 5 billion calls in three months last year. That’s enough calls “to call every person in the United States fifteen times,” it writes the FCC Wednesday.

In the calls, the company reported that it was trying to reach the caller about his car’s warranty. The caller is then transferred to a scam artist posing as a warranty specialist to obtain the caller’s details. Consumers described the calls as ‘incessant’ and ‘intimidating’.

In addition, the company “called healthcare workers during a pandemic and spoofed hospital phone numbers.” This resulted in long waiting times when calling the hospitals and people calling the hospitals to complain about the intrusive calls.

Further, the company violated multiple FCC rules, such as not identifying the caller at the beginning of a message or getting the caller’s explicit permission to contact them. The FCC says Cox/Jones Enterprise will have a chance to respond.