HOW YOU’RE GETTING THEM. THE EIGHT ON YOUR SIDE TEAM BELIEVES IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOU UPDATED ON ALL THE LATEST SCAMS AND TRICKS THAT ARE OUT THERE. BUT IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW HOW THE SCAMMERS TARGET YOU. LAST YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THE NUMBER OF ROBO TEXT IN THIS COUNTRY OUTNUMBERED ROBOCALL CALLS. AND THAT TREND CONTINUES TO GROW THIS SPRING, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST STATISTICS FROM ROBO KILLER AMERICA HAS RECEIVED 13 BILLION ROBO TEXT IN APRIL. THAT’S AN 8% INCREASE FROM MARCH AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WERE 5 BILLION ROBO CALLS. THAT’S A 13% DECREASE FROM MARCH. THOSE NUMBERS CLEARLY SHOW A PREFERENCE FOR SCAMMERS USING TEXT MORE THAN TWICE AS OFTEN AS CALLS. WHY? WELL, BECAUSE WHEN THEY SEND A TEXT, IT STAYS RIGHT THERE ON YOUR PHONE UNTIL YOU READ IT. AND RIGHT NOW, CONSUMERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BLOCK ANNOYING CALLS FROM PHONE NUMBERS THAN TO BLOCK TEXT MESSAGES. AND THE TOP THREE TECH SCAMS RIGHT NOW, DELIVERY AND PACKAGE SCAMS. THIS IS THE TEXT I’VE TOLD YOU ABOUT BEFORE. IT CLAIMS THERE’S A PROBLEM WITH THE PACKAGE THAT YOU’VE ORDERED. SECOND TEXT THAT CLAIMED TO BE FROM YOUR BANK ABOUT ACCOUNT PROBLEMS. AND THIRD, TEXT ABOUT MEDICAL ISSUES OR INSURANCE. YOU’VE HEARD ME SAY THIS BEFORE AND I’M GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN, FOLKS. NEVER CLICK ON LINKS AND TEXT MESSAGES OR EMAILS THAT YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH. SCAMMERS CAN HIDE ANYTHING IN THOSE LINKS THAT COULD COMPROMISE BOTH YOUR DEVICE AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. I’
Company that allegedly sent billions of robocalls sued by 49 attorneys general
Updated: 7:48 PM EDT May 23, 2023
A bipartisan coalition of 48 state attorneys general, plus the D.C. attorney general, sued Avid Telecom on Tuesday, alleging that the company is responsible for billions of illegal spam calls, including calls to the phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.The state AGs claim that 90% of Avid’s 24.5 billion phone calls between December 2018 and January 2023 lasted just 15 seconds and that many of the calls impersonated law enforcement and government agencies. Other spoof calls purported to be from large corporations like Amazon or DirecTV to lure call recipients into scams. “Robocalls are not only disruptive, unwelcome, and annoying. They result in scamming millions of consumers out of tens of billions of dollars every year. Avid Telecom was repeatedly notified to cease facilitating illegal, harmful robocalls but refused to take any preventive action,” Washington DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said in a statement. “We are proud to stand with our state AG colleagues in sending a message that illegal robocalling and consumer scamming will not be tolerated.”Avid Telecom is a U.S.-based company founded in 2001 that provides voice calls over the Internet, according to its website.”Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, Avid Telecom operates in a manner that is compliant with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement to CNN. “While the company always prefers to work with regulators and law enforcement to address issues of concern, as necessary, the company will defend itself vigorously and vindicate its rights and reputation through the legal process.”The suit names Avid Telecom, its parent company Michael Lanskey LLC, and two company executives, Michael Lanskey and Stacey S. Reeves, in the lawsuit. It isn’t the first time lawmakers have attempted to tackle unwanted automated calls. Over the past two years, the Federal Communications Commission has taken several steps to curb spam and robocalls including blocking another telecom company, Global UC, from accessing the U.S. phone network.
A bipartisan coalition of 48 state attorneys general, plus the D.C. attorney general, sued Avid Telecom on Tuesday, alleging that the company is responsible for billions of illegal spam calls, including calls to the phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.
The state AGs claim that 90% of Avid’s 24.5 billion phone calls between December 2018 and January 2023 lasted just 15 seconds and that many of the calls impersonated law enforcement and government agencies. Other spoof calls purported to be from large corporations like Amazon or DirecTV to lure call recipients into scams.
“Robocalls are not only disruptive, unwelcome, and annoying. They result in scamming millions of consumers out of tens of billions of dollars every year. Avid Telecom was repeatedly notified to cease facilitating illegal, harmful robocalls but refused to take any preventive action,” Washington DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said in a statement.
“We are proud to stand with our state AG colleagues in sending a message that illegal robocalling and consumer scamming will not be tolerated.”
Avid Telecom is a U.S.-based company founded in 2001 that provides voice calls over the Internet, according to its website.
“Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, Avid Telecom operates in a manner that is compliant with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement to CNN. “While the company always prefers to work with regulators and law enforcement to address issues of concern, as necessary, the company will defend itself vigorously and vindicate its rights and reputation through the legal process.”
The suit names Avid Telecom, its parent company Michael Lanskey LLC, and two company executives, Michael Lanskey and Stacey S. Reeves, in the lawsuit.
It isn’t the first time lawmakers have attempted to tackle unwanted automated calls. Over the past two years, the Federal Communications Commission has taken several steps to curb spam and robocalls including blocking another telecom company, Global UC, from accessing the U.S. phone network.
