FCC now requires phone carriers to block scam text messages
The new rules require mobile carriers to block text messages that appear to come from invalid, unallocated, or unused phone numbers.
LEARN MOREMay 24, 2023
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Fifty-one U.S. attorneys general across the U.S. banded together in a lawsuit against Avid Telecom over billions of illegal robocalls.
In a 141-page lawsuit filed Tuesday, the attorneys general accused Avid of initiating more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the national Do Not Call Registry since 2019.
"These unlawful calls sent by Avid included Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, and credit card interest rate reduction scams," said the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims Avid sent more than 8.4 million calls across its network using spoofed caller ID numbers that appeared to be coming from federal law enforcement agencies, state law enforcement agencies and private sector entities. These were listed as "do not originate" numbers.
Avid also used spoof numbers falsely associated with established private entities like Wells Fargo, Apple, Amazon, Visa, Target and a number of major banks, credit card companies and department stores, among others, according to the lawsuit.
"Americans are sick and tired of their phones ringing off the hook with fraudulent robocalls," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "Seniors and vulnerable consumers have been scammed out of millions because of these illegal robocalls. "
The suit is the first legal action taken by the Anti‑Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which was formed last year.
"Working collaboratively, our goal is to disconnect these bad actors for good," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a press release. "This task force can wield enough muscle to overpower the formidable enemy that illegal robocalls represent."
