Telecom company sued by nearly every state over billions of robocalls

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

BUSINESS

Telecom company sued by nearly every state over billions of robocalls

A coalition of 48 states and the District alleges that Avid Telecom facilitated 21 billion calls from 2018 to 2023, including many on the Do Not Call Registry.

By Aaron Gregg
May 24, 2023 at 12:51 p.m. EDT

A coalition of attorneys general from nearly every state is suing an Arizona company that provides phone-calling services for allegedly facilitating billions of robocalls, including many that appeared to be scams.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, regulators alleged Avid Telecom routed calls on behalf of its clients and found ways to spoof the phone numbers to increase the likelihood that a call would be picked up. The company is accused of transmitting 7.5 billion automated calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry, a practice that violates laws prohibiting deceptive telemarketing practices.

“Every day, millions of American consumers receive a barrage of unwanted robocalls that are harassing, annoying, threatening, and malicious,” according to the complaint filed by the attorneys generals of 48 states and the District. “These calls are all scams designed to scare and harm consumers. Other robocalls may not be scams but are harassing, abusive, and illegal, nonetheless.”

{snip}

From December 2018 to January 2023, Avid facilitated about 21 billion calls to U.S. phone numbers, and 93 percent of them lasted less than 15 seconds, according to a preliminary review of call records cited in the complaint. ... Many of these calls purported to be from government agencies like Social Security and Medicare, or customer service representatives from such well-known brands as Amazon and DirectTV. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.)

{snip}

By Aaron Gregg
Aaron Gregg is a business reporter for the Washington Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/Post_AG

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/24/avid-telecom-robocalls-lawsuit/

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That's just a bit out of synch with the way Jason Miyares is telling the story.

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Avid Telecom routed nearly 235 MILLION illegal robocalls in Virginia alone, many being blatant scams. I’m working to ensure they’re held accountable.

wric.com
Miyares files complaint against Avid Telecom for billions of illegal robocalls
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on Tuesday that he filed a complaint against the leaders of Avid Telecom for allegedly

Link to tweet

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Yeah, well, you and 48 other AGs.

[royable]

1. I've personally received one point eight million of them myself.

Avid Telecom should be fined 21 billion dollars, one dollar for each illegal scammy call.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. Dang, you beat me. I'm only at 1.3 million a year.

[Probatim]

20. I get 30-40 spam calls each day on my cell phone.

I try to keep them on the phone as long as I can. If I can keep them from getting through to someone vulnerable, I think I'm doing the public some good.

If I can get them to swear at me or hang up in disgust, I feel like it's a win.

My favorites are the Indian/Pakistanis who use a Texas accent with me. I break out my Dubya voice and ask the craziest questions. I'm easily entertained.

[KS Toronado]

2. "found ways to spoof the phone numbers"

Congress how about making this illegal? My land line has caller ID and 99.99% of my calls show they are
coming from within my city, while 99.99% of the calls are scams & companies promoting their Medicare
advantage plans. If they need to hide their real phone # they can't be trusted.

[moonscape]

3. I got one that spoofed my former

accountant’s number! That was particularly creepy.

[KS Toronado]

4. Yea, that would be

[UpInArms]

5. I got a call from a dead friend

made my head hurt

pissed me off

[moonscape]

7. That rips my accountant

one to shreds. Whoa!

[PSPS]

9. The shake/stir protocol at the incumbant telcos was supposed to be operating years ago.

For some reason, the FCC doesn't enforce the rule. It's probably because the GOP is taking vig off the scam. Crap like this was impossible in the Bell System days.

[slightlv]

6. I finally killed my landline.

It's been a lot more peaceful around here since I did that. The calls would start sometimes just after 7am and go on until 7pm; sometimes I timed them at every 15 minutes I'd get a spammer or scammer. That just got to be too much for the few legitimate calls we got on that line. Hubby hates the cellphone, but does like the fact I'm not screaming at the phone anymore.

[Archae]

8. Same here.

I got fed up with the scam calls.

[Backseat Driver]

10. I turned off the ringer - Ahhhh...peace and quiet!

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Auto warranty, solar, student loans

That was just today.

Put their heads on a pike as a warning to the others.

[appleannie1]

12. Gee, where am I going to get a new car war ran tee now, or money for burial expenses or my electric

bill lowered? Who am I going to scream or blow an air whistle at now? They should never have been able to call people in the first place.

[BigmanPigman]

13. I've screened my calls since 1986

and it has saved my sanity. I even get the calls saying they are the IRS or Social Security. I have been told that you should NEVER answer your phone when an incoming call is being screened. That will only encourage their use of your number.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

14. It may be coincidental but unsolicited calls seem lower than usual today.

I typically get 8-to-10 unsolicited calls a day, most all with falsified caller IDs and any that I answer (to play with them) sounds like people from India. Telling them I'm on do not call lists has no effect. This problem has gotten totally our of control the last couple of years. I will always maintain my old-fashioned POTS line for better security in case of emergencies.

The Feds need to do their job and stop this bullshit on services we pay for. I feel it should be illegal for anyone to insert fake caller IDs into phone calls, and if a call is via IP-based phone lines, the IP address should appear on caller ID.

I will never, and never have since 1965, done business with anyone that calls my phone unsolicited.

I'm also pissed that corporations such as insurance companies are selling my info to these scammers.

KY

[Initech]

16. I get so many shit calls that I don't answer my phone unless I know who it is.

[Takket]

17. Now that we know who is doing this, aren't there fines for violating

The do not call registry??? I want my money!!!!

[SeattleVet]

18. I've managed to cut them down from 5 or 6 a day to usually less than 1 a week.

We use an Ooma VOIP phone system that has a hook into the NoMoRobo scammer robocall blocking service, as well as 'community blacklists', where they'll block calls from a number that has a certain number of reports/blocks from other users.

I also have a scanner radio by my desk, and as soon as I see a number I don't recognize I turn it on and answer, "North Precinct; Fraud Division" with police calls going on in the background. They usually can't hang up fast enough, and I almost NEVER get a second call from that scammer. It does my heart good to hear a sharp, "Oh, shit!" just before the hangup.

[PufPuf23]

19. Have landline as good local cell coverage is not available.

Have not answered that phone in years without looking at caller ID.

The message machine has been full for a similar time.

Get scam calls every day. The grifters are getting better as will see calls on caller ID that appear to be local or with names or locations I recognize.

[leftyladyfrommo]

21. My spam calls are down right now. The Medicare calls

have stopped. I got 18 in one day and then it went down to 10 for months.