FCC Imposes $120 Million Penalty on Adrian Abramovich for 96 Million Spoofed Robocalls

The FCC called it "one of the largest spoofed robocall campaigns that the Commission has ever investigated."

The bottom line: invoking well-known brands in robocalls and hiding behind spoofed numbers can lead to one of the largest penalties the FCC can impose.

What happened

According to the order, consumers received spoofed robocalls offering vacation packages, including to Mexico and the Caribbean. A prerecorded message told them to "Press 1" to hear about an "exclusive" deal purportedly offered by a well-known company such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, Marriott or Hilton. Consumers were then transferred to call centers that tried to sell vacation packages, usually involving timeshare presentations. The call centers were not affiliated with those brands.

Two complaints helped launch the investigation:

• Spōk, Inc. In December 2015, Spōk, which provides paging services for hospitals, emergency rooms and physicians, reported a large robocalling event disrupting its emergency medical paging service. Spōk's paging technology is not built to handle voice calls, so a large robocall campaign can disrupt or even disable the network. The FCC traced the calls to Abramovich through Marketing Strategy Leaders, a Florida corporation.
• TripAdvisor, Inc. In April 2016, TripAdvisor reported consumer complaints about robocalls using its name without its knowledge or authorization. Its own investigation found that travel companies had contracted with Marketing Strategy Leaders to place the calls.

Read the FCC Forfeiture Order against Adrian Abramovich.

The proceedings

The FCC first issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for spoofing, along with a Citation and Order (dated June 22, 2017) finding violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for unauthorized prerecorded telemarketing calls and of the wire fraud statute.

Abramovich filed a response denying intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value, and requesting a "significant reduction." The FCC noted that the response did not deny liability for any of the apparent violations. The FCC found no reason to cancel the citation and imposed the full $120,000,000, jointly and severally.

The law

The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 and the FCC's rules prohibit falsifying caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Separately, the TCPA restricts prerecorded telemarketing calls without consent.

Why it matters

The case shows that robocalls can harm more than just the people who answer them. Here, the FCC pointed to disruption of hospital paging systems and misuse of the names of real companies.

What this means for you

1. Never use another company's brand name in a call without authorization.
2. Do not spoof caller ID.
3. If you buy transfers or leads, know how the calls were generated.