U.S. telecom providers will now have to block millions of illegal robocalls a day that advertise extended vehicle warranties . The Federal Communications Commission is targeting a group of people accused of sending more than 8 billion such messages since 2018.
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Thursday's order from the FCC requires carriers to stop making calls that the service has linked to 13 people and six companies, mostly based in Texas and California, but also more distant places like Hungary.
The robocalls produced by the group typically begin with recorded messages such as " We are trying to contact you about your car's extended warranty ," the FCC publication said
Such calls represented the largest source of consumer complaints to the FCC over the past two years, totaling thousands of complaints annually.
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As part of its scheme, the group purchased access to nearly half a million phone numbers from more than 200 area codes in the fall and winter of 2020, the FCC said, and then used them to make it appear to recipients that the robocalls were coming from local numbers.
The group still launches millions of illegal calls every day, the commission added.
Although the FCC has previously warned U.S. telecom companies about robocalls, Thursday's order is the first to force carriers to stop broadcasting them. By revealing the specific individuals and entities behind the calls, the FCC provides the information needed to block them, said Loyaan Egal, deputy director of the FCC's Office of Enforcement .
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With few exceptions, robocalls made without the recipient are illegal under US law.
In light of Thursday's order, telecommunications companies that continue to make the illegal calls may be held liable, the FCC said.
