48 States Suing Robocall Company That Made $7.5B

Attorneys general from multiple states have filed a lawsuit against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky, and vice president Stacey S. Reeves, accusing them of making over 7.5 billion robocalls to individuals on the National Do Not Call Registry. The 141-page lawsuit seeks a jury trial to determine damages. The legal action stems from the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which consists of 51 attorneys general and the District of Columbia, created to investigate and take legal measures against telecom companies involved in robocall activities. The lawsuit alleges that Avid Telecom used spoofed or invalid caller ID numbers, including impersonating government agencies and private companies.

The calls included scams related to the Social Security Administration, Medicare, Amazon, DirecTV, as well as auto warranties, employment, and credit card interest-rate reductions. The attorneys general argue that such robocalls have defrauded vulnerable consumers out of millions of dollars. Avid Telecom denies the allegations, stating that it operates within the bounds of state and federal laws and regulations. The issue of robocalls has also been prevalent during elections, with instances of fraudulent robocalls targeting voters in previous years. In a separate incident, conservative hoaxers were convicted for making fraudulent robocalls to Black voters, spreading false information about mail-in ballots. Recently, robocalls were used in scams targeting cryptocurrency investors, with scammers posing as Coinbase representatives.