FTC clamps down on cell phone spam calls
May 19, 2009
The Federal Trade Commission has filed lawsuits against three telemarketing companies that have been using automatic dialers to robocall cell phones in order to sell fraudulent car warranties.
The FTC said the companies - Voice Touch and Transcontinental Warranty of Florida and Network Foundations of Illinois - violated the federal Do Not Call registry law in making more than 1 billion robocalls since 2007.
FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said the scheme has generated billions of dollars in fraudulent sales of unnecessary warranty products.
The companies use a technique called caller ID spoofing to make it look like calls are coming from a legitimate or known phone number, according to CNET News.
"I'm not sure which is worse, the abusive telemarketing tactics of these companies or the way they try to deceive people once they get them on the phone," Leibowitz said. "Either way, we intend to shut them down."
The FTC has received thousands of complaintsabout the calls since 2007. Many people receiving the calls were already registered with the Do Not Call list. The law prohibits use of an autodialer to contact people on the list.
Verizon Wireless has also filed lawsuits against the companies to stop the calls.
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