The FCC has issued a record-setting $300 million fine against an “international network of companies” involved in the largest illegal robocall operation the agency has ever encountered. The operation made more than five billion robocalls to 500 million phone numbers during a three-month span in 2021, violating federal spoofing laws and calling numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry without consent.
The operation used over a million different caller ID numbers to deceive victims into answering the phone. The FCC concluded that the robocalling was an egregious violation of current laws, and consumers described the calls as incessant harassment.
The individuals behind the operation, Roy Cox, Jr. and Michael Aaron Jones, were issued lifetime bans against making telemarketing calls. If they do not pay the fine, the matter will be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
