TELEPHONE FRAUD TARGETS: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Virginia, DOJ/FCC Probe Found
VIOLATIONS: Truth in Caller ID Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act: DOJ
By JOSH MITCHELL
Editor
River Mississippi News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Montana federal court last week formally penalized a man $9.9 million for orchestrating thousands of illegally fake “robocalls” to U.S. consumers, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
Also, the U.S. court handed down an order forbidding further violations of the Truth in Caller ID Act, which was passed 15 years ago shortly after the start of The Great Recession.
Likewise, the court ordered that there shall be no more violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
The Montana/Idaho case came after the Federal Communications Commission probed illegal “robocalls” in Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Virginia six years ago.
“The calls displayed inaccurate caller IDs indicating they were from local phone numbers, inducing the recipients to answer the calls and listen to the recorded messages.
“Those messages included highly inflammatory and disturbing content, often directed at certain communities, that intended to offend or harm the recipients,” the release states.
Hundreds of fake automated calls hit “targeted residents” in Brooklyn, Iowa after a woman was murdered.
“Similarly, more than 2,000 of the spoofed robocalls targeted residents of Charlottesville, Va. during the investigation and prosecution of James Alex Fields Jr. for killing one woman and injuring dozens during the “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017.”
Many people who got the maliciously harassing calls made formal complaints with the FCC and police, according to DOJ.
Federal authorities said their investigation led them to “Scott Rhodes, a resident of Idaho and Montana.”
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said, “We are very pleased by the court’s judgment, and we will continue working with the FCC and other agency partners to vigorously enforce the telemarketing laws that prohibit these practices.”
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana, added, “These results send the clear message that the Justice Department is determined to protect consumers.”
And FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said “persistent and malicious robocallers” who break the law will be brought down.
“I especially want to thank FCC investigators for tracking down this robocaller and building such a strong case,” Rosenworcel said in the press release on Friday.
