Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed $37.5 million fine against Affordable Enterprises of Arizona and $82 million on Philip Roesel and his companies for illegal caller ID spoofing.
FCC earlier imposed fine of $120 million against Adrian Abramovich.
FCC said the fine is for making illegal telemarketing calls that appeared to originate from consumers and other numbers not assigned to the company.
The fine against Affordable Enterprises is the commission’s first major enforcement action against a company that commandeered consumers’ phone numbers, an oft-complained about nuisance for Americans.
The Tucson-based company made more than 2.3 million telemarketing calls during 14 months starting in 2016 to sell home improvement and remodeling services in Arizona. The company manipulated the caller ID information to ensure that calls appeared to come from consumers who were unconnected to the operation.
One Arizonan received more than five calls per day on her cell phone from consumers complaining about telemarketing calls they thought she had made. Records show that Affordable Enterprises had made spoofed telemarketing calls to consumers that appeared to be coming from the cell phone of this unaffiliated Arizonan.
Philip Roesel and his companies made more than 21 million robocalls to market health insurance. The Truth in Caller ID Act prohibits callers from deliberately falsifying caller ID information to disguise their identity with the intent to defraud consumers, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.
