The FCC’s robocaller penalties are growing as the agency tracks down and terminates their operations — this time resulting in a record $300 million forfeiture.
Having identified the particulars of the long-running scheme, which used the promise of selling auto warranties to collect personal information from people.
“Armed with the facts [the FCC] gave phone companies permission to cut off this traffic before going one step further and directing them to block it outright.
The FCC is limited to investigating, taking counter-actions (like asking phone companies to stop carrying certain callers), and documenting the extent of the alleged criminal activity.
A few years ago I wrote about how these fines often end up largely unpaid or drastically reduced due to loopholes and a lack of resources on the enforcers’ side.
Today’s operation is described as being “transnational,” which is not elaborated upon but strongly suggests even greater difficulties in tracking down and squeezing the money out of those responsible.