FCC Hits Florida ‘Robocaller’ With Record $120 Million Fine
If you’re annoyed by those robocall, you’re going to love this!
By Marilyn Nelson on May 11, 2018
If you’re annoyed by those robocall, you’re going to love this!
The Federal Communications Commission just fined a Florida man $120 million for a robocalling operation. The FCC said Adrian Abramovich made almost 100 million robocalls over three months selling travel packages and timeshares. They’re calling the scam a “malicious spoofing” operation, according to The Hill.
The FCC says Abramovich violated the Truth in Caller ID Act, prohibiting callers from deliberately falsifying call ID information with intent to harm or defraud customers. The robocalls were used to trick people into answering and listening to his advertisements. This is a practice known as “neighbor spoofing” – making it look like the calls are local, increasing the chances you’ll answer.
The calls falsely seemed to be from well-known companies like Marriott, Expedia, Hilton, and TripAdvisor. However, after answering the calls, people were redirected to foreign centers attempting to sell timeshares and vacation packages.
During his testimony in Congress last month, Abramovich described the robocalls as “very easy,” saying it’s it’s possible to make as many as 10,000 a day.
