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FCC Proposes $120 Million Fine On Florida Robocall Scammer (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the justice-is-served dept.

The FCC on Thursday proposed a $120 million fine on a Florida resident alleged to have made almost 100 million spoofed robocalls to trick consumers with "exclusive" vacation deals from well-known travel and hospitality companies. Reuters reports: The man, identified as Adrian Abramovich, allegedly made 96 million robocalls during a three-month period by falsifying caller identification information that matched the local area code and the first three digits of recipient's phone number, the FCC said. The calls, which were in violation of the U.S. telecommunications laws, offered vacation deals from companies such as Marriott International Inc, Expedia Inc, Hilton Inc and TripAdvisor Inc. Consumers who answered the calls were transferred to foreign call centers that tried to sell vacation packages, often involving timeshares. These call centers were not related to the companies, the FCC said.

18 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. yesterday, a Florida resident allegedly by turkeydance · · Score: 2

    fled.

  2. Re:$120 million for one scammer by Cyberpunk+Reality · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Basically what I was going to say. He's not being fined for being a scamming robocaller, he's being fined for doing scamming robocalling *wrong*.

    --
    Rule 35 of the internet: "If it can be hacked, it will be". - Charles Stross
  3. I definitely got called by this guy by TheDarkener · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been getting Marriott Hotel calls w/my area code, sometimes 2-3x daily on my business phone line. Fucking annoying and such a time/concentration waster, even with a callblocker (as it obviously spoofs a different number each time). I hope this guy gets what's coming to him.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    1. Re:I definitely got called by this guy by markdavis · · Score: 2

      I have been getting calls too..... EIGHT of them. I thought it really odd I would get calls from a local number with the same first three digits as mine. Of course I never answered any of them. But that might explain what happened.

      However, ALL robocallers should be fined, not just those who spoof. Better yet, ALL marketing callers AND pollsters AND political party callers. Stop invading my space, irritating me, and wasting my time.

  4. Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by bjdevil66 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    $120,000,000 for 100M calls? That's $1.20 per call.

    Unless the scammer made $120M in profits, this goes a little beyond punitive.

    It's too bad net neutrality doesn't get this kind of strong support.

    1. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by tbq · · Score: 2

      Couldn't he also be sued by the companies he claimed to represent for these "deals" being offered?

    2. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Too harsh? I'd like to see some jail time too. Otherwise he'll just start up again in a couple years.

    3. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by markdavis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >"$120,000,000 for 100M calls? That's $1.20 per call.Unless the scammer made $120M in profits, this goes a little beyond punitive."

      Sorry, but that sounds about right to me. He irritated people over 100 million times. That is a lot of bad. The problem is that they rarely fine anyone and rarely collect any of it, anyway.

      If they do, they should use all that money to hunt down and destroy as many marketing, spam, political, and robocallers as possible. Or perhaps use the money to force the stupid carriers out there to NOT ALLOW SPOOFING LIKE THIS.

    4. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by dissy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      $120,000,000 for 100M calls? That's $1.20 per call.

      Unless the scammer made $120M in profits, this goes a little beyond punitive.

      That's cheap as hell, considering calling a number listed on the do not call registry can be up to $40,000 per violation.

      Yes, that's $40k times potentially 100 million calls, or $4 trillion in fines assuming he only called each person just once, which isn't actually the case.

      I have over 50 such calls in my phones call history over the past 5-6 months.
      While it is unlikely to all be from this one single person, this is still two million dollars in violation fees from just on my one phone alone.

      He was very aware of the fines for the actions he knew were criminal.
      Beyond punitive? This is barely a slap on the wrist.

    5. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      The law says the robocaller can be liable for much more than that. He's getting off easy.

    6. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by GrumpySteen · · Score: 2

      I don't think you understand what punitive damages are. Fining someone more than the amount of profit they made or damage they did is literally the definition of punitive.

    7. Re:Illegal? Yes. Too harsh? Even more so... by clampolo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Simple punishment. He has to sit in a jail cell and listen to his ad for 100M times before he leaves his cell

  5. Telcos should be slammed for letting it happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Functionality exists within the telephone system to id and block spoofed caller id calls before they get to the subscriber line. Telcos are loathe to spend any cash to shore up security on a system that no longer makes a profit. My local provider responded to complaints with an offer to sell me security features none of which were of any real help.

    1. Re:Telcos should be slammed for letting it happen by stabiesoft · · Score: 2

      T-mo does this now. Dial #662# to enable and #632# to turn it off. Works great. Its free,

  6. He'll be hired by congress by mnemotronic · · Score: 2

    I'm afraid that we're living in a new age where evil is admired and illegal activity is spun as creative problem solving.

    He's got the infrastructure to do what our duly elected "representatives" want to be illegal for everyone but themselves. I can see a public finger-wagging then a very lucrative job offer from the *.* Nat'l Committee (fill in your favorite party).

    Alternatively, a job with the CIA and unleash his system on the Russians. How'd ya like them apples vladimir.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  7. Re:$120 million for one scammer by FictionPimp · · Score: 2

    This is because of government involvement. If we just let free market sort this out the problem would go away, everyone would just switch to a communications company that did not have spammers. ;-p

  8. I think he may still be at it by buss_error · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just received a call a few hours ago with my area code and the same as my trunk (first three digits) offering me something about Hilton. I totally hung up before listening to the scam. But it's interesting that this is still going on. Is it the same guy, or are there copycats now?

    --
    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
  9. Re:P R I S O N _ T I M E ? by clampolo · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a good first start, but your proposed punishment seems too lenient.