Attorney General Kwame Raoul today filed a lawsuit, alongside 48 attorneys general, against Avid Telecom, its owner Michael Lansky and vice-president Stacey S. Reeves, for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. Avid Telecom allegedly initiated, facilitated, and transmitted more than 7.5 billion illegal robocalls to millions of people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Between December 2018 and January 2023, more than 290 million of those calls were to Illinois residents.
Avid Telecom is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that sells data, phone numbers and dialing software to help its customers make mass robocalls. It also serves as an intermediate provider and allegedly facilitated or helped route illegal robocalls across the country.
“Robocalls violate consumers’ privacy and unnecessarily cost them time and money. Companies responsible for this illegal practice must be held accountable,” Raoul said. “I am happy to work with fellow attorneys general addressing this problem in Illinois and will continue to protect consumers’ rights by fighting against these unlawful actions.”
Between December 2018 and January 2023, Avid sent or attempted to transmit more than 24.5 billion calls. More than 90 percent of those calls lasted less than just 15 seconds, which indicates they were likely robocalls. Further, Avid helped make hundreds of millions of calls using spoofed or invalid caller ID numbers, including more than 8.4 million calls that appeared to be coming from government and law enforcement agencies and private companies.
Avid Telecom allegedly sent or transmitted scam calls about Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams and employment scams.
The USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group, which notifies providers about known and suspected illegal robocalls sent across their networks, sent at least 329 notifications to Avid Telecom that it was transmitting these calls. Avid Telecom allegedly continued the calls.
The legal action arises from the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force Raoul joined in August 2022 along with 50 bipartisan attorneys general. The task force is investigating and taking legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General provided investigative assistance in this matter.
Attorney General Raoul has been a consistent advocate for protections against illegal robocalls. In 2022, Raoul joined a coalition of 33 attorneys general in filing a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending the anti-robocall provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In August 2019, Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from all 50 states and Washington D.C. in partnering with 12 phone companies to create a set of principles for telecom companies to fight robocalls. In June 2019, Raoul, in cooperation with the FTC, announced a major crackdown on robocalls that included 94 actions targeting operations around the country that were responsible for more than 1 billion calls. Raoul has also submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission urging the adoption of its proposed rules on enforcement against caller ID spoofing.
Joining Raoul in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
- RequiredName2 - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:59 pm:
Use screening service, often free with android phones. Make robo talk to robo.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:59 pm:
I don’t answer my phone if I don’t recognize the caller.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:59 pm:
Depends on my mood, but I always try to say: “take this number off your list” before i hang up. If I’m in a goofy mood, I might talk in foreign gibberish or imitate a Tom Mabe bit until they give up. But you can tell it’s a synthetic voice and for those I just hang up.
There is no penalty strong enough for the phone scammers.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:00 pm:
My Android/Google phone does a great job with the calls.
I really don’t think about them anymore because so few get to me.
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:01 pm:
I just delete the notifications since I just never answer my phone.
- interesting stuff - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:03 pm:
@ Give Us Barabbas
Just a heads up I’ve heard that talking at all let’s the service know the phone number works and then gets you added to more lists. Can’t 100% verify that it is true, just what I heard. But anecdotally I’ve noticed a decrease since I just started hanging up immediately or not answering at all.
Might be placebo, but just sharing what I’ve heard
- Roads Scholar - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:14 pm:
South Dakota had something better to do??
- robes - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:15 pm:
The spammers think I’m an elderly woman named Julie. (I’m not any of those things) I use Verizon’s call filter. It works fairly well but it does nothing for spam texts. I think it should be illegal to mask or fake caller ID.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:16 pm:
===South Dakota had something better===
Good eye!
- Pundent - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:20 pm:
Technology has all but eliminated the annoyance for me. Given the manner in which number sharing proliferates if you have the ability to screen I would avoid answering at all costs. Once you’ve confirmed to the robot that there’s a live body on the other end you’re calls will go up exponentially.
- Norseman - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:22 pm:
I’ve made the Monty Python Spam song my default ring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcY3W5WgNU
Everyone on my contact list has their own ringtone, i.e. Money, Money, Money for vendors and Friends for friends ….
Ignore spam, answer ones on my list.
- Lincoln Lad - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:26 pm:
Don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize, and if it shows ‘scam likely’ I block the number.
- Safe Muffins - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:27 pm:
I’ve always felt like the Do Not Call has been largely a paper tiger. Feels good, really doesn’t do much.
Instead, ss an old IT guy, I follow standard firewall protocol:
Wall off everything, and then make exceptions for what traffic I want.
(This is for Android, if you’re interested)
My Do Not Disturb is always set to on. Then, I set my DND to only allow starred contacts to ring my phone.
My friends, family, etc can always ring my phone. Anyone else goes to Voicemail. What I have found is, illegitimate calls never leave voicemail.
The end result is: my phone never rings, or even lights up unless it’s someone I know. This combined with my carrier’s scam shield…has rendered me a fairly happy camper. I’ve never missed anything important, cause a business or other legit caller leaves voice mail, which I then return.
YMMV, based on your phone and carrier. But this method has never let me down.
- Suburban Mom - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:31 pm:
I have the same cell number I had 20 years ago, from a different area code. Like, imagine I used to live in 515 and now I’m in 847. 847 numbers are usually actual humans who want to speak with me; 515 (if not someone already in my phone) is either robocallers spoofing the area code or the college calling to ask for money.
This actually works unreasonably well; if I pick up all 847 numbers I don’t know, only maybe one per month is junk. (The rest is a teacher calling on her cell phone or a doctor’s office outgoing line or something.)
- clec dcn - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:34 pm:
Like most if I don’t recognize the number I don’t answer it.
- JoanP - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:44 pm:
As others have said, I don’t answer calls from numbers I don’t recognize.
- RNUG - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:46 pm:
Don’t answer the landline if it doesn’t show as one of the 20 or so names stored in it.
Same for the smartphone, except we have over 800 numbers stored in it.
Figure they will leave a message if they really want / need to talk to me.
- Steve Rogers - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:50 pm:
I play along with the social security and Microsoft ones. Making up names, bank accounts. Just playing stupid mainly. Sometimes I keep them on the phone for 15 minutes. When the gig is up, I tell them I’m glad I wasted their time so they don’t scam other people. They usually cuss me out. After two or three of those, no one calls me for months. I think I get on their internal do not call list, which is the best no call list to be on.
- RNUG - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:52 pm:
Friend likes to play with them, especially the extended auto warranty people. He will tell the he has something like a 1915 Reo with half a million miles on it, and wants to know the price to cover it.
Note: for those who are not auto buffs, Reo was a real company founded by Ransom E Olds, who also founded and sold Oldsmobile to GM. Reo made cars, and mostly trucks, for many, many years.
- CornAl DoGooder - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:57 pm:
If I have the time, I will either mess with them in whatever silly way strikes my fancy to waste their time, or every now and then I make an attempt to ask questions that I can use to file an FTC complaint (not expecting those to go anywhere, just to help boost their numbers)
- Banish Misfortune - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:02 pm:
I got rid of my home phone. My cell phone blocked most spam but my home phone was all spam.
- Wensicia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:19 pm:
Even without the Scam Likely warning, I don’t answer unknown numbers. However, robotexts have to be deleted one at a time.
- Motambe - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:46 pm:
I interrupt the caller and try to sell them life insurance. “do you have a family? Children? What happens if you are killed on the way home from work today? Who pays for their expenses? Who pays for your children’s education?” Most hang up. A few get flustered and try to get their dialogue going again. And one from India or Asia actually wanted to know more about life insurance.
- Lurker - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:00 pm:
And just to add RNUG, as I’m sure you know, the band REO Speedwagon is named after the Reo truck.
As for the calls, if I answered, I just set the phone down. I do not speak as they will sell certain words like “yes” “I agree” “I confirm” etc.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:18 pm:
virtually never answer calls on cell phone unless I’m wondering if it’s someone I’m expecting a call from and I don’t know their number. in the house….landline, messing with the phone co…..we never say the word Yes and always mess with the caller. tell them they are illegal and will be arrested as we are on a do not call list, sometimes the husband yells at them. we try and make it fun.
- Chillimon - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:48 pm:
I have been saying for years, the person that makes these calls stop will be my candidate for President of the United States.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 6:46 pm:
Ignore, mostly. Sometimes I answer for fun. An auto warranty person called a few days ago and I asked them what kind of car I had…they immediately hung up. A loan consolidation person was the next caller; I asked them what I should do if I don’t have any outstanding loans…they were stymied.
I do get the impression that if I waste someone’s time the number of robocalls decreases for at least a few days. Also, it’s fun to disrupt their script.
- Retired SURS Employee - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 7:01 pm:
I have my iPhone set to silence “unknown” callers. If they then want to leave a voicemail message, they can. Almost all unknown callers do not leave voicemail. I then just delete the phone number from my list of recent callers. Works great, unless i am expecting a call from a number that is “unknown”. But those callers will invariably leave a voicemail message.
- OneMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 7:14 pm:
When they ask how I am doing I inform them I have a burning sensation when I use the bathroom.
When they offer a free home security system I ask if I can also get a free pizza.
- PublicServant - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 7:55 pm:
Yep, “Silence Unknown Callers” works well for me too.
- We've never had one before - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:21 pm:
>>>>How do you deal with these robocalls?
It sounds like Raoul is off to the good start.