The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that VoIP service provider XCastwill settle with the Department’s terms. The provider was accused of facilitating illegal telemarketing campaigns and robocalls since at least January 2018, in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
Now, the company is being forced to stop that practice , while the proposed order also requires other compliance measures , including establishing a customer due diligence process and calling out potential illegal telemarketing. It also imposed a $10 million fine, which has been suspended due to XCast's inability to pay.
See also: FCC fights robocalls through 'automatic guarantee'
“XCast provided VoIP services that transmitted billions of illegal robocalls to American consumers, including scam calls claiming to be from government agencies,” said in a press release.
These calls delivered pre-recorded marketing messages, and most targeted numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. Additionally, most of the calls claimed to be affiliated with government entities or contained completely false or misleading information to persuade users to make a purchase.
In the case of calls from alleged government agencies, they may have threatened to cut off a userif they did not make a payment immediately. In other cases, consumers were urged to act promptly to reverse alleged charges to their credit cards.
See also: Americans received two billion spam and scam calls in October
As part of the proposed settlement, XCast was ordered to sever ties with companies that do not comply with U.S. telemarketing laws.
The company has come under scrutiny from regulators, as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned XCast several times about illegal robocalls. However, the provider has done nothing to fix the situation.
“The order permanently prohibits XCast Labs from providing VoIP services to any company with which it does not have an automated process in place to block calls that display invalid phone numbers or that have not been validated through the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework,” the FTC said.
See also: Telegram 10.5.0 update: Improved Calls, Brand New Experience
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) needs to take several steps to prevent violations like those committed by XCast. One of these is to strengthen law enforcement by imposing fines and penalties on companies that violate regulations.
Additionally, the DOJ should work closely with other government agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to share information and better enforce laws regarding unwanted phone calls.
The DOJ should also promote public education and awareness about their rights and the risks associated with unwanted robocalls in order to strengthen consumer protection.
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Source: thehackernews.com
