Robocaller Hit With Record 120 Million Fine - CBS News:
Robocaller Hit With Record 120 Million Fine.. CBS News:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robocaller-hit-with-record-120-million-fine/
By/ Kathy Kristof/ MoneyWatch/ May 10, 2018, 3:23 PM
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The Federal Communications Commission Thursday finalized its largest robocalling fine in history against Adrian Abramovich, a Florida man who is charged with making nearly 100 million spoofed robocalls in just three months.
Abramovich, who claimed in Senate testimony that he was "not the kingpin of robocalling as alleged," must now pay the FCC's $120 million fine or bring the dispute to federal court. Notably, the FCC's second-largest fine in history, which asks for $95 million, related to a robocalling operation that was charged last August for allegedly making about one-fifth as many phone calls.
Abramovich, who asserted Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in his Senate testimony, could not be reached for comment. However, the FCC alluded to -- and soundly rejected -- his legal response to the FCC charges, in which Abramovich claimed he did not mean to cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.
"Mr. Abramovich didn't just have the intent to defraud or cause harm. He actually caused harm," countered FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a prepared statement. "Just ask his victims -- a number of whom are elderly -- who were duped into purchasing travel deals under false pretenses."
The FCC fine is part of a multifaceted effort to crack down on robocalls, which have spurred more than 4.5 million complaints to federal regulators in recent years. The complaint against Abramovich and his companies, Marketing Strategy Leaders and Marketing Leaders, said these companies made some 96 million computer-dialed calls over a three-month period.
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They used spoofed numbers from my area code and prefix that once in a while are a number of someone in my phone's contacts. Some are IMO, scammers looking for credit card numbers and some appear to be for legitimate products. I contacted one of the companies that was shilled for and told them that I would never buy their product because of the illegal calls. I was told that it was a third party working on commission who was making those calls. They claimed to have identified that individual and cut them off and that their sales program expressly forbids that mode of selling. I was skeptical, but did not receive anymore robocalls for that product.
In the last few days the other calls have stopped. Maybe the news of the fine was enough. 