The "IT Guy" Behind the Robocalls: 57 Million Do Not Call Hits in Six Months

So what happened?

In June 2019, as part of its "Operation Call it Quits" crackdown, the FTC announced a case against Bartoli. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the complaint and a settlement on the FTC's behalf in federal court in the Middle District of Florida (case no. 6:19-cv-01160).

According to the FTC, Bartoli had been an active player in illegal telemarketing for years. He served as the "dialer," the "information technology (IT) guy," and sometimes the seller for various telemarketing companies, including companies the FTC and other agencies had already sued. He worked under his own name and through Phoenix Innovative Solutions LLC, Marketing Consultation Solutions LLC and KimRain Marketing LLC.

What the FTC says he did

• Built and ran an autodialer. The FTC says he developed, operated and provided a computer-based dialing platform.
• Blasted millions of illegal robocalls and calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.
• 57 million calls in six months. In the last six months of 2017 alone, according to the complaint, Bartoli sent more than 57 million calls to registered numbers.
• Spoofed caller ID on millions of calls.

Read that again. 57 million. In half a year.

Read the complaint against Derek Jason Bartoli.

How it ended

The settlement:

• Permanently bans Bartoli from calling numbers on the Do Not Call Registry, sending robocalls and spoofing caller ID.
• Bars a range of abusive practices, like interfering with someone's right to get on a do not call list, calling people who already said stop, and not paying for Registry access.
• Imposes a $2.1 million civil penalty, suspended because he can't pay.

The FTC also thanked USTelecom and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for their help.

Here's the thing ...

Look, I've been around tech people my whole career. I know the mindset: "I just run the platform. What the clients do is their business."

The FTC doesn't buy it. If you're the one pressing the button, or building the button, you're in the case. Bartoli wasn't a big brand. He was the guy behind the curtain. And he still ended up with a lifetime ban.

What to do this week

• Know what's running on your dialer. Every campaign, every client.
• Pay for the Registry and scrub. Every time.
• Never let anyone spoof caller ID on your system.
• Honor stop requests right away and keep the list.
• If a client has been sued before, treat that as a giant warning sign, not a sales opportunity.

It's not rocket science. The tech doesn't get you off the hook. It puts you on it.