As most of us who own a phone are aware, illegal robocalls have become an overwhelming nuisance, bombarding millions of Americans with unwanted calls each and every day.
Although many unwanted robocalls are not placed with criminal intent, a sizable portion of them facilitate criminal scams against unsuspecting consumers, such as calls that attempt to collect a payment by falsely informing someone that they owe money to the IRS or another government agency. Scam robocalls often originate from overseas and are accompanied by a spoofed number belonging to the government agency the message appears to come from, which greatly enhances their credibility.
After several years in which scam robocalls topped regulators’ complaint list, in 2019 Congress passed the TRACED Act to give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), law enforcement agencies, and consumers additional tools to combat illegal robocalls and the spoofed Caller IDs that often come with them, tools that the FCC will not hesitate to utilize under the proper circumstances.
Identidad Advertising Development
On October 18, 2024, the FCC sent a Cease-and-Desist Letter to Identidad Advertising Development LLC (IAD), a Florida-based Voice Service Provider (VSP), for transmitting offshore scam calls to US consumers that impersonated legitimate banks and credit card issuers under the guise of fake “transaction alert” notifications.
Working with the Industry Traceback Group (ITG) and state regulators participating in the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, the FCC identified IAD as the gateway VSP responsible for allowing the illegal robocalls into the country from Romania and Indonesia. The calls played variations of the following prerecorded message:
“This is a transaction alert call from Visa and Mastercard support. There has been two transactions done on your card for $299.00 on Walmart and $3,950.00 on Western Union. If you have made these transactions and accept the charges simply hang up. If you have not made these transactions and you wish to report fraud please press 1 immediately.”
Consumers who pressed one in response were instructed by an agent to make payments or provide sensitive financial information. According to YouMail, between July and September 2024, more than one million illegal robocalls of this nature were generated.
When presented with ITG traceback requests concerning the calls, IAD did not deny its involvement in transmitting them. This led the FCC to send the Cease-and-Desist Letter. instructing the company to mitigate the illegal traffic within 48 hours and to implement effective measures to prevent other customers from using its network to originate illegal calls within 14 days.
In addition to the Cease-and-Desist, the FCC issued a K4 Public Notice informing all U.S.-based VSPs that they may be permitted to cease accepting traffic from IAD. Failure to fully comply with the requirements set forth in the Cease-and-Desist letter will result in the FCC issuing a mandatory order to downstream VSPs to block all of IAD’s traffic, which will effectively end the company’s business, and may also face additional sanctions.
An Ongoing Campaign Against Illegal Robocalls
This is certainly not the first time the FCC has undertaken this type of action in its relentless campaign to curb illegal robocalls, nor will it be the last. VSPs and gateway providers in particular are under tremendous pressure from the FCC to consistently monitor their networks and mitigate any suspected illegal traffic.
But with thousands of VSPs currently operating, the road ahead remains uncertain, with questions lingering over how effective these enforcement measures will be in the long run.
