Tulelakenews.com Todays News: December 14, 2019
Is there anything more annoying than getting a constant stream of robocalls? One teenager has found a way to fight back. Jackson Gosnell, 16, is making thousands of dollars by threatening to sue the companies that call him, claiming they are violating the Federal Consumer Protection Act. “I have made over $20 thousand in eight months,” Gosnell said. He said he’s reached out-of-court settlements with 25 companies and was even able to purchase his first car with his winnings.
If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it's a robocall. We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of illegal robocalls because internet-powered phone systems have made it cheap and easy for scammers to make illegal calls from anywhere in the world, and to hide from law enforcement by displaying fake caller ID information.
To date, the FTC has brought more than a hundred lawsuits against over 600 companies and individuals responsible for billions of illegal robocalls and other Do Not Call violations.
The FTC also is leading several initiatives to develop technology-based solutions. Those initiatives include a series of robocall contests that challenge tech gurus to design tools that block robocalls and help investigators track down and stop robocallers. We’re also encouraging industry efforts to combat caller ID spoofing. Here’s the FTC’s game plan to combat robocalls:
.continue aggressive law enforcement
.build better tools for investigating robocalls
.coordinate with law enforcement, industry, and other stakeholders
.stimulate and pursue technological solutions.
Enforcement of the Do Not Call Registry
The FTC takes aggressive legal action to make sure telemarketers abide by the Do Not Call Registry. To date, the Commission has brought 134 enforcement actions against companies and telemarketers for Do Not Call, abandoned call, robocall and Registry violations. To date, 121 of these FTC enforcement actions have been resolved, and in those cases the agency has recovered over $50 million in civil penalties and $71 million in redress or disgorgement. In 2017, a federal court ordered penalties totaling $280 million and strong injunctive relief against satellite television provider Dish Network for millions of calls that violated the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and state law. The civil penalty award included $168 million for the federal government, the largest civil penalty ever obtained for a violation of the FTC Act.
FTC, Law Enforcement Partners Announce New Crackdown on Illegal Robocalls
U.S., state, and local enforcement stops companies responsible for over one billion calls
Morgan & Morgan is handling lawsuits on behalf of consumers who received unwanted calls from debt collectors, banks and other companies on their cell phones. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) individuals must provide express consent to receive certain types of calls and have the right to tell these companies, including debt collectors, to stop calling. For each unwanted call, a consumer may be able to collect between $500 and $1,500.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) places restrictions on robo calls and prerecorded messages made by telemarketers, businesses, debt collectors, and political campaigns.
TCPA regulations restrict the practices of telemarketers and debt collectors and their use of automated dialing and pre-recorded voice messages in the form of opt-in consent with regard to:
Cell phones
Residential phone lines
Text messages
Unsolicited faxes
Send sources on local and national news:
Email: tulelakenews@yahoo.com
Cell # (530) 708-7852
Comments
Post a Comment