FCC Attempts to Halt Spam Auto Warranty Caller
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission asked phone companies to cut off a business they believe is behind billions of those pesky robocalls saying “We’ve been trying to reach you concerning your car’s extended warranty.”
On Thursday the commission sent cease and desist letters to eight specific phone carriers and warnings to all other phone carriers across the country cautioning they need to stop allowing calls from the Cox/Jones/Sumco Panama Operation, which the commission alleged is behind about 8 billion spam calls since 2018.
“Billions of auto warranty robocalls from a single calling campaign. Billions! Auto warranty scams are one of the top complaints we get from consumers and it’s time to hold those responsible for making these junk calls,” Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.
These particular auto warranty scam calls have been the top complaints from consumers in 2020 and 2021, according to the commission.
The eight companies sent the cease and desist letters — Call Pipe, Fugle Telecom, Geist Telecom, Global Lynks, Mobi Telecom, SD Telecom, SipKonnect and Virtual Telecom — were told to stop the calls from the Cox/Jones/Sumco Panama operation, which the FCC estimates generates millions of calls a day. The commission also said they must report back how they continue to cut off scam calls.
If the companies do not comply they could face fines and be kicked out of the commission’s Robocall Mitigation Database, which will effectively notify every telecom firm in America to block their traffic.
This comes as the commission is cracking down on robocalls in general using new technology and working with states to investigate these fraudulent callers.
Madeline can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ByMaddieHughes
