Roy Cox Jr. and Michael Aaron Jones run the operation via their company Sumco Panama, along with other domestic and foreign entities. In July 2021, the FCC issued its first-ever “K4 Notice” and “N2 Order,” directing all US telephone providers to stop carrying traffic related to car warranty scam calls. As a result, the volume of such calls dropped by a massive 99% since June, according to spam blocking app RoboKiller, the FCC wrote. While the use of robocalls is not necessarily illegal, the FCC proposed this fine because it found that the robocallers met the criteria for “egregious violations.” Many consumers have described the calls they received as “incessant” and “harassment.” The robocallers also used dirty practices like calling healthcare workers from spoofed hospital numbers. Additionally, the group violated multiple FCC rules, such as failing to identify the caller at the start of a message.
FCC’s efforts to combat robocalls and protect consumers
The FCC has been cracking down on robocall scams for years, and this proposed fine is just the latest example of their efforts to protect consumers from these types of deceptive and fraudulent practices. If you have received a robocall that you suspect is a scam, the FCC recommends you hang up and report it to the agency. You can do this by filing a complaint on the FCC’s website. Further, the FCC has implemented several measures to help combat the problem, including the Do Not Call Registry, which allows people to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls, and the Truth in Caller ID Act, which makes it illegal to use false or misleading caller ID information to defraud or cause harm.
