Attorneys general across america have joined a lawsuit against a telecommunications company accused of constructing greater than 7.5 billion automated calls to individuals on the national Do Not Call Registry.
The 141-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky and the corporate’s vice chairman Stacey S. Reeves.
He’s headed for a jury trial to find out damages.
The lawsuit was filed by the nationwide, bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force of 51 Attorneys General and the District of Columbia.
It was formed last yr to analyze and take legal motion against telecommunications firms that divert robocall traffic.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said that between December 2018 and January 2023, nearly 197 million automated calls were made to Arizona phone numbers.
“Day-after-day, countless Arizona consumers are harassed and annoyed by the relentless barrage of unwanted automated calls – and in some cases, these illegal calls threaten consumers with lawsuits and arrests,” Mayes said in a press release. “More worryingly, a lot of these calls are scams designed to pressure scared consumers, often seniors, into handing over their hard-earned money.”
The lawsuit alleges that Avid Telecom used spoofed or incorrect caller ID numbers, including greater than 8.4 million calls that appeared to come back from government and law enforcement agencies in addition to private firms.
The corporate also allegedly sent or forwarded fake calls in regards to the Social Security Administration, Medicare, Amazon, and DirecTV, in addition to automobile warranties, employment, and bank card rate of interest cuts.
“Americans are fed up with phone calls being made by fraudulent payphones,” Recent York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release. “Seniors and vulnerable consumers have been scammed out of thousands and thousands due to these illegal automated phone calls.”
The lawsuit alleges that Lansky and Reeves violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.
“Contrary to the allegations made within the criticism, Avid Telecom complies with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations,” said Neil Ende, the corporate’s external general counsel. “The corporate has never been found by any court or regulatory body to be broadcasting illegal traffic and stands ready to fulfill with Attorneys General, because it has done on quite a few occasions previously, to further display its good faith and lawful conduct.
“On this context, the corporate is upset that the Attorneys General selected not to speak their concerns immediately prior to filing the lawsuit,” Ende added. “While the corporate at all times prefers to work with regulators and law enforcement to resolve issues, the corporate will vigorously defend itself and pursue its rights and status through legal motion if crucial.”
Telephone robots have also been an issue during elections lately.
Through the 2020 election, voters across america received anonymous automated calls within the weeks leading as much as Election Day telling them to “stay protected and stay home.”
Two conservative hoaxers have been convicted of fraud for making greater than 85,000 automated calls to black voters in five states.
False requests for information on absentee ballots can result in arrest, debt collection, or forced vaccinations. Their sentence included spending 500 hours registering voters in Washington’s low-income neighborhoods