Skip to main content

 Most robocalls are prohibited by law, but scammers and dishonest people continue to send them. And even some legitimate companies violate peoples’ privacy rights with illegal robocalls. Today the FTC announced several victories in the fight against illegal robocalls.
 
In the first victory, the FTC announced that it stopped the operator of a series of sham charities called “Veterans of America.” That operator sent millions of robocalls to donors and collected more than half a million dollars illegally. The robocalls’ message claimed that the organization was a charity and donations were tax deductible. None of that was true. The FTC stopped him in his tracks, and now he can’t send or help others send robocalls anymore. (The FTC’s action challenged practices by Utah resident Travis Deloy Peterson and entities he controlled that used names like Veterans of America and Medal of Honor. The FTC has not taken action against other entities called Veterans of America, Medal of Honor, or similar names.)

In the second victory, the FTC announced that three individual defendants in the case against Point Break Media agreed to a robocall ban, and a ban on helping others send robocalls. All of them were part of a scheme that sent false (and alarming) robocalls to small business owners to get their money.
 
Today’s announcement also includes a double victory in the NetDotSolutions case. Three defendants who provided the autodialers used to place billions of illegal robocalls are now banned from supplying autodialers to telemarketers. In fact, those defendants provided the autodialing technology used by robocallers in at least eight prior FTC cases. They also will pay $1.35 million.

And finally, yet importantly, the FTC got a fourth victory in the Higher Goals Marketing case, where seven defendants agreed to a telemarketing ban. These defendants operated a credit card debt-relief scheme, which they started just weeks after the FTC closed a similar operation in the Life Management Services case, and where several of the defendants had previously worked.
 
The FTC’s work against illegal robocalls continues, and you can help by letting us know when you get an illegal robocall: www.ftc.gov/complaint. Read this article to learn more, or visit ftc.gov/calls.

Note: This post was updated on November 6, 2020

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

NancyFal
March 26, 2019
Great job.
papdave
March 26, 2019
In the last three weeks I have received over 80 phone calls from all over the United States asking why I called them. I did not know any of the individuals, or why they were calling. They each told me that my name and phone number showed up on their phone or answering machine and they were returning my call to know why I called them. I'm sure it's some kind of a scam, but I don't have any idea what. My phone provider told me that the only thing they would recommend was to change my number, which we've had for 50 years. Anyway, if there's anything you folks can do to stop this, it would be very appreciated. Thanks and Best Wishes for all you do.
Eggroll5215
March 26, 2019
Now work on the Social Security, IRS, lower your electric bill, get rid of student loans, lower credit card rates, SCAMS, I get 100’s of calls pet month from these scammers. The biggest scam is the one telling you to go buy gift cards and then give them all the info from the card, I know of an elderly woman who this happened to. I keep blocking them and they keep calling from new numbers, I’m not well and it is really annoying that I have to shut off all my phones to get some peace. Please STOP these thieves
Frenchy
March 27, 2019

In reply to by Eggroll5215

I do not answer any number that I suspect in any way. I have been told that, if you connect and even immediately disconnect, they have just detected that your phone number is legitimate and there is a real person associated with it. I still get some calls, which I "suspect" to be robocalls, but far fewer of them now.
business in l…
March 26, 2019
says stopped but my cell phone (is a business cell) has already received 6 today. most show a local number close to your own. when we do not get any more then I will believe it
Relief Peggy
March 26, 2019
Thank you Jesus! Thank you FTC. I can have one hour of peace when I am home now.
Cruz
March 26, 2019
Great job. Put these scammers away for good.
Drowe
March 26, 2019
Thank you FTC. I was feeling like I was paying a phone bill for scammers to call instead of my personal use.
sam
March 26, 2019
PLease don t pat yourself on the back until I stop getting at least six robocalls a day. It has gotten to the point where I can t answer my phone because it is just another person with a phone trying to con me out of money. For the record these people are laughing at you because they still make their calls in violation of the law and you act like your proud of the work you do.
Derrick on't u…
March 26, 2019
Thank you.
FLHenkenDon't …
March 26, 2019
have received 2 more calls so far this morning one left message re back brace approval and seemed to not realize they were talking to an answering machine. the 2nd one left no message and when I ran a check of the number one appeared to be my phone service provider claiming to be Century Link said it located the owner of the number and would provide information for .95 cents. I did not proceed further and have never agreed to pay for information.
PCD
March 26, 2019
I add unwanted calls to my contact list in phone, and then activate “ block this caller”.
DKellie
March 26, 2019
I'm getting anonymous calls now - why would someone think we would pick up a phone with this ID. It makes me angry because I walk all the way to the phone and its anonymous!
Figmo6673
March 26, 2019
The only phone I have is a cell phone. When I get a call from a number out of state or one I do not recognize I never answer. If it is important they will leave a msg. Scammers never leave messages. After calling me repeatedly w/o an answer, the number of robo calls I receive has dropped dramatically. I get one or two abt twice a week now instead of twenty.
no name
March 26, 2019
I got a variation on the Tech Support Scam. They left a voice mail saying to call therm to get a refund since they are out of business. I never paid for tech support with any merchant so I knew it was a fake. I did not call the phone number.
Tech.....we r dead
March 28, 2019

In reply to by no name

We have been hassled so bad by this scammer company they took my partner for $600. they have said for a year now they want to give use our money back but that check never comes and I wont put it in any of our accounts so now I tell them bf is dead or blow a whistle into the phone only fair they wake me most mornings lol. I and my bf want them to go away!!!. We are sick of them and they complain to me and I tell do not call us and I wont blow their ears out lol.
ConcordT
March 26, 2019
Pressing any number to "remove" you from the list only legitimizes your phone number. Usually results in more calls.
Tiredoftherobocalls
March 26, 2019
I get robocalls on my landline at least 10 times per day. Tuesday must be my day because that is the main day I get the robocalls. One after another. I don't think this is what Alexander Graham Bell was thinking was he invented the phone! I'm giving up my landline because the calls are annoying. My family doesn't call me that much!
D Rose
March 26, 2019
I don't answer the phone any more unless the caller is in my contacts. My home phone seems to only receive RoboCalls. Some of the callers leave messages which I have to listen to before I can delete them. Some of the messages are clearly fraudulent, telling me that if I don't respond I'll be ineligible for Medicare. I get them on my home phone, office number and cell.
Emm
June 11, 2019

In reply to by D Rose

I have the same problem where the robocalls leave a long message on my answering machine and I can't delete it until it plays all the way through. It's very irritating. The ones I get generally I think are saying if I don't call back some account or other that I have is going to be canceled or discontinued. I can hear it while it's being recorded but I don't listen very carefully. It's certainly a first world problem, if it's the worst thing I have to put up with I'm pretty fortunate. but I still wish there was a way to stop these calls
MisoP88
March 26, 2019
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your hard work does pay off!
Bob C
March 26, 2019
Happy you did something. My cell phone is useless! It stays muted most of the time and it doesn't do any good to block them because they just get transferred to Voice Mail. I get so many I gave up wasting my time to even report them to you.
caith
March 26, 2019
My my market, NE Florida, my cable provider, Comcast, provides a free service with our email. It is called Nomorobo. If it is a robo call, my phone rings 2 times and then the call goes to some call center or goes away to somewhere.......... Comcast does not advertise this free service, but it can be found by going into your account.
Dontcallme
March 26, 2019
Stop one and five more replace them. Sorta like whack-a-mole. I simply keep my phone on permanent do not disturb. No apps needed, no subscription required to block scammers.
ShariYS
March 27, 2019

In reply to by Dontcallme

That's right. If I don't recognize the caller, I don't answer. Most of the time, my ringer is turned off anyhow ... and ALWAYS at night!
Paul SC
March 26, 2019
I've read all the details via the links in the post, and am a very confused puppy. Why would a judgement of $1M+ be whittled down to mere thousands, just because the defendants can't come up with with the payment, or for other unstated reasons? The reduced and suspended judgements are just a slap-in-the-hand to these people - they'll be back to operating illegally as soon as they can shred the judgement documents. The least we (that's us consumers and the FTC, our public servants) could do is destroy these people's credit to the point where they could never buy a packet of peanuts again in their whole life!
bitsy
March 26, 2019
I still get calls to lower my interest rate.
MRSTACEY
March 26, 2019
I discovered an app for my cell phone that answers robocallers with ridiculous, fake responses. This gives them a taste of their own medicine, but 95 out of 100 calls on my landlines are spam and I have not found a way to block all of these. My phone DOES have a"Block Calls" feature, but I get so many my phone ran out of memory to store these spurious calls!
XXanom
March 26, 2019
Not too impressive! A worse danger comes for robocalls claiming to be Medicare, and asking for your ID number so they can verify your new card has the correct ID number.
Fed up
March 26, 2019
I an plagued With these annoying calls every single day. As soon as I receive the annoying call, I block the number, but that doesn’t seem to stop the onslaught of calls advising me that healthcare is now affordable and every other item imaginable. I hope some of this nonsense can and will be stopped soon. Thank you
Jennifer73
March 26, 2019
Yeah for you, but sorry to say it will not stop them - how about purging the system from the ability to the app that allows them to mask their phone numbers by bouncing off a real cell phone number, I get these ALL THE TIME from local cell numbers but yet when I answer its a medicare, home owner insurance, credit card interest rate reduction or car warrenty has expired auto caller scam!!!!
Happycat
March 26, 2019
Thanks for all you do to stop these horrible people!
Richard L.
March 26, 2019
As always, thank you all for what you do. Keep up the wonderful accomplishments you do.
phone-o-phobic
March 26, 2019
Keep up the good work! I'm so tired of robocalls especially on my landline, I don't even bother to answer unless it's someone I actually know who leaves a voice message. Those scammers preying on people's sympathy for veterans are lower than dirt! To the slammer with scammers!!
OLD FELLOW
March 26, 2019
The Robo call people can pay the fines and go on as usual if they are still making money. They should get jail time. This would greatly curtail their scam especially if they can not call from Jail.
aal
March 26, 2019
even when you have block call set up. they still get through
WarEagle
March 26, 2019
On my AT&T landline I dial *77. This blocks anonymous calls.
they think Im ill
March 26, 2019
I get several calls a week from a company stating they are with medicare and want to update my diabetes supplies or make changes to insurance neither of which I have at this point in my life (thankfully) while your at it what about website phishing I had several website obtain my information (behind the scenes) and use it during researching projects for school (annoying)
Ted
March 26, 2019
I wouldn't even call these "victories", more like a token effort just so the FTC can look like it's doing something. What we need is some actual results like prison time for these dirtbags.
Bar_None
March 26, 2019
I have gotten 11 calls from my name and number TODAY! Let's do something about these calls. I don't want to turn my answering machine off. I might get an important call or should I? I'm so aggravated by this!! Please let me know what to do about it °°°°°
Anne
March 26, 2019
This is good news, then again will surface again in about 5 years.
RAY
March 26, 2019
The robot callers that called do not call #s Pay all phone bill for a year
Suzy
March 26, 2019
I'm on the D.N.C. list - have been for years, but still get many,many calls a day. I finally got a Call Blocker and it works great. All I do when I get a call is to Answer and if a ROBO, or a "sales" call I press a button and never hear from them again as the Blocker Blocks their calls from ever getting thru again. Well worth the Money.
gran4530
March 26, 2019
I have been receiving these robocalls for a while they call at 8:00am central time until 10:30pm at night. Some leave threatening messages like IRS and me oweing school loans which I do not. I hope that they will stop.
Graham Upper M…
March 26, 2019
I have just received a robocall by a company using a local (fake) number. Please hold the phone companies (Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and etc...) accountable for verifying phone numbers transmitted to the public. Must of these companies using robocalls always use fake local phone numbers associated to the calling area.
Anonymously me
March 26, 2019
Just want to say hay so glad to here that good news.
Totallyfedup
March 26, 2019
I continue to get a zillion valls regardless of adding my information to DO NOT CALL registry
Tooter
March 26, 2019
I'm not understanding what is meant by robo calls. I get recorded messages by unnamed callers and suspected spam a nd telemarketers to the sum of 30 to 50 calls daily. Sooo annoying .
Lee
March 26, 2019
Yay yay yay!! Thank you FTC !! Great job!
mamamooseDon't…
March 26, 2019
We have lost several thousand dollars to an outfit in Jamaica claiming to be from Publisher's Clearing House and needing an advance to get our winnings approved by the FTC. To add insult to injury our cell phone account paid for them tying up our cell phone with long distance incoming calls.