Operation Stop Scam Calls: What the 2023 Federal and State Sweep Targeted

The bottom line: the sweep did not target only the people placing calls. It targeted the lead generators and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers that make those calls possible.

Here is what happened

According to the Minnesota release, the initiative focused on three groups:

1. Robocallers and the companies that enable them.
2. Lead generators that deceptively collect consumers' telephone numbers and provide them to robocallers and others, falsely representing that those consumers consented to receive calls.
3. VoIP service providers that enable tens of billions of illegal robocalls every year, many of which originate overseas.

The FTC announced the initiation of five new cases against companies and individuals that distribute, or facilitate the distribution of, billions of illegal telemarketing calls. Other agencies involved in the sweep included the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General (SSA OIG), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, announced the initiative at a news conference in Chicago. He said the agencies were "taking action against those who trick people into phony consent to receive these calls and those who make it easy and cheap to place these calls."

The state record leading up to it

Minnesota's release placed the sweep in the context of earlier state work:

• August 2019: Attorney General Ellison joined 51 state attorneys general and 12 telecom providers in adopting a set of anti-robocall principles, which led to free call blocking and common identification of likely scam calls.
• August 2022: Minnesota joined the multistate investigation into 20 gateway providers by the newly formed Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force.
• May 2023: Minnesota joined 48 states and the District of Columbia in suing Avid Telecom, alleging more than 7.5 billion illegal robocalls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The release noted that this was the first lawsuit stemming from the task force.

Why it matters

The focus on consent is the key point for legitimate telemarketers. A lead generator that claims that consumers consented to be called, when they did not, is a target. So is the company that relies on that representation without checking it. Under the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the burden of proving consent generally falls on the party that made or caused the call.

The focus on VoIP providers highlights the same kind of thinking. Enforcers view the carrier that sells cheap access to the network as part of the problem when it ignores obvious signs of abuse.

What this means for you

1. Do not buy leads without proof of how and where each consumer gave consent.
2. Keep that proof for every number you call.
3. If you provide voice services, know your customers and act on traceback requests.
4. You should know that federal and state enforcers are sharing information, as they say they are.