Coronavirus warning letter: Who could it be now?

Years ago, Australian band “Men at Work” posed the musical question “Who will it be now?” In the ongoing fight against coronavirus scams, FTC staff just sent warning letters to nine companies, alerting them to illegal involvement behind the scenes. Potential consequences of COVID-19 promotions. A more appropriate name for the group now would be Men and Women at Work from homeBut when it comes to the conduct targeted in the letters and the companies receiving them, “Who could it be now?” remains a pertinent question.

Recipients of the warning letters are Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers and companies that license phone numbers whose customers may have been involved in recent robocall attacks used to further coronavirus scams. The letters remind VoIP providers that it is also illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule to “assist and facilitate” others who engage in illegal robocalls. (Recall that for business calls, it is illegal to “initiate or cause to be initiated a call that delivers a prerecorded message” unless the person has given express written permission to receive automated calls from the person or company making the call.)

Additionally, under the TSR, it is illegal to “provide substantial assistance or support” to a seller or telemarketer when you know or intentionally avoid knowing that the seller or telemarketer has violated certain provisions of the rules – for example, if they:

• Make false or misleading statements to induce people to purchase a product;
• Make false or misleading statements to obtain charitable donations;
• Misrepresenting the seller’s or telemarketer’s affiliation with a government agency;
• Send false or deceptive caller ID messages; or
• Initiate, or cause to be initiated, telemarketing calls to numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry.

Why do warning letters focus on these examples? Because the coronavirus robocalls consumers receive often involve violations of these regulations. Companies that received the letters include VoIPMax, SIPJoin Holding, IFly Communications, Third Rock Telecom, Bluetone Communications, VoIP Terminator a/k/a BLMarketing, J2 Web Services, VoxBone US and Comet Media.

You may want to read these letters for more information, but the legal underpinnings of the FTC Act and telemarketing sales rules should not come as a surprise to VoIP providers or any other business. As part of its robocall enforcement efforts, the FTC filed aid and facilitation claims against technology companies that knowingly provided software and servers used by illegal robocallers, even though the companies did not contract directly with the illegal robocallers. Additionally, in a case filed with the Ohio Attorney General, the FTC alleged that a VoIP provider aided and facilitated telemarketers it knew, or knowingly avoided telemarketers it knew, from promoting false products through robocalls .

Other notable actions: The Department of Justice filed a civil case against a VoIP company and its owner, alleging the defendants knowingly committed wire fraud by sending robocalls impersonating government agencies.

Consumers are tired of illegal robocalls, but will illegal robocalls further exacerbate coronavirus-related deception? To quote the letters, “exploiting consumers’ fears about the pandemic to commit scams or spread misinformation” takes things to a whole new level.

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from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.com/coronavirus-warning-letter-who-could-it-be-now/
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from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.blogspot.com/2024/02/coronavirus-warning-letter-who-could-it.html
via https://techempiresolutions.com/