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The FRFA is set forth in Appendix C. 18. Add 64.1204 to subpart L to read as follows: (a) Any private entity may submit to the Enforcement Bureau information related to a call made or a text message sent that the private entity has reason to believe was in violation of 64.1200(a) or 47 U.S.C. NPRM Those who responded denied their marketing was deceptive and defended their business model and compensation. Its supporters also include interest groups such as the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was its top donor in 2020 with a $750,000 contribution. Timely and thorough information from private entities is crucial to enable the Commission to mitigate illegal robocall incidents and bring swift enforcement actions. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? 12. 801(a)(1)(A). Federal Do Not Call rules do not apply to political or nonprofit fundraising. We acknowledge commenters' concerns that, at least initially, private entities might be confused about whether the consumer complaint process or the new streamlined process is a more appropriate place to submit information. The full text of this document is available for public inspection online at There should be more transparency on this to protect consumers, he said. should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official that parts 0 and 64 of the Commission's rules Former Politicause employee Armstrong said he was fired in 2018, when the call center did charity fundraising, for having drugs at work. The company later was renamed Politicause. documents in the last year, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration We define private entity as any entity other than (1) an individual natural person or (2) a public entity. For further information, contact Daniel Stepanicich, Attorney, Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau, at (202) 418-7451 or A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said he had no knowledge or involvement in this decision., Attorney General Carr has been working diligently to determine how this situation occurred and ensure that it does not happen again, said spokesperson Katie Byrd. Compliance with the requirements of that information collection will not be required until after approval by the Office of Management and Budget. Listen Transcript Hello, good evening. The Report and Order contains new or modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their . Last summer, after coming under fire from state and government regulators for alleged deception in fundraising for charities, he defended his reputation on a website called richardzeitlintruth.com. If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you The Commission's Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) will monitor the portal. <25 Employees . has no substantive legal effect. I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this weeks rally, said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. on or call the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). If new workers werent making sales, they were quickly fired. Callers said they did so quickly and proudly, hoping people wouldnt catch on. on NPRM If an individual consumer mistakenly files a complaint with the new portal, the Bureau will forward the complaint to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. They are looking for naturals, said Jones, adding that good performers could take home $1,000 to $1,500 a week. We are committed to protecting and defending law enforcement against progressive politicians, judges, and other officials that encourage the war on cops. Federal Register issue. What a racket, oh my God., On his website, Zeitlin said his firms revenue which he described as 80% to 90% of the proceeds may seem high but actually is standard for the industry and is needed to offset high costs for technology and intensive time-consuming labor.. would create consumer confusion and duplicate existing Commission robocall information collection efforts. The calls always seem to come when you least expect it. Many companies that donated to the Republican Attorneys General Association also gave to the Democratic Party equivalent. Robocallers have apparently been using the name of a former Abilene City Councilman/Abilene businessman to try to entice people to give to a fake police charity. legal research should verify their results against an official edition of Stephanie T. Nguyen, Chief Technology Officer, Competition and Consumer Protection Guidance Documents, HSR threshold adjustments and reportability for 2023, A Century of Technological Evolution at the Federal Trade Commission, National Consumer Protection Week 2023 Begins Sunday, March 5, FTC at the 65th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market - NCPW 2023, Jason Cardiff (Redwood Scientific Technologies, Inc.), Telemarketer Fees to Access the FTCs National Do Not Call Registry to Increase in 2023, FTC Extends its Crackdown on Subscription Scam That Fleeced Consumers and Harassed Them Over the Phone, Federal Trade Commission Proposes Small Business Protections Against Telemarketing Tricks and Traps, FTC Takes Action to Stop Voice over Internet Provider from Facilitating Illegal Telemarketing Robocalls, Including Scams Relating to the Pandemic, Federal Court Rules in Favor of FTC, Halting Illegal Tactics Used to Promote Smoking Cessation, Weight-Loss, and Sexual-Performance Aids, FTC Issues Biennial Report to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry, FTC Issues Refunds Totaling More Than $1.8 Million to Consumers Defrauded by Lifewatch, Inc.s Deceptive Medical Alert Telemarketing Scheme, FTC Releases 2021 Do Not Call Registry Data Book; Reports Registrations and Consumer Complaints Both Increased in FY 2021, FTC to Ramp up Enforcement against Illegal Dark Patterns that Trick or Trap Consumers into Subscriptions, FTC Returns $1.1 Million to Consumers Who Lost Money to Alleged Scammers Selling Bogus Income Opportunities, FTC Testifies before the Senate Special Committee on Aging About the Agencys Work to Halt Practices that Prey on Older Americans, Seven Remaining Defendants in Massive Grand Bahama Cruise Line Operation Banned from Making Telemarketing Robocalls; Principals will Pay $100,000 in Civil Penalties, Telemarketer Fees to Access the FTCs National Do Not Call Registry to Increase in 2022, FTC Takes Action against Septic Tank Cleaning Company that Made Millions of Illegal Robocalls to Consumers Nationwide, FTC, 38 States, and D.C. Act to Shut Down Massive Charity Fraud Telefunding Operation, Scammers Who Used Robocalls to Target Cash-Strapped Consumers Banned from Selling Debt Relief Services and Telemarketing, FTC and FCC Send Joint Letters to Additional VoIP Providers Warning against Routing and Transmitting Illegal Coronavirus-related Robocalls, FTC and FCC Send Joint Letters to VoIP Service Providers Warning against Routing and Transmitting Illegal Coronavirus-related Robocalls, FTC Warns Nine VoIP Service Providers and Other Companies against Assisting and Facilitating Illegal Coronavirus-related Telemarketing Calls, FTC Warns 19 VoIP Service Providers That Assisting and Facilitating Illegal Telemarketing or Robocalling Is Against the Law, 4 reasons why the latest FTC robocall cases should matter to your business, FTC goes to court to unravel robocalling net, FTC challenges robocallers false threat that small businesses will be removed from Google, Decision bolsters FTC position on soundboard tech, Working Together to Protect Midwest Consumers: A Common Ground Conference, Common Ground: Fighting Schemes and Scams in a Tough Economy, North Carolina Consumer Protection Workshop, Midwest Region 2012 Common Ground Conference, Statement of Andrew Smith, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, at Operation Call It Quits Press Conference, Prepared Remarks of Chairman Joseph Simons at USTelecom Forum: Turning the Tide on Illegal Robocalls, Prepared Remarks of Chairman Joseph Simons at the ABA Consumer Protection Conference, Statement Of Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, U.S. House of Representatives, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission: Abusive Robocalls and How We Can Stop Them, Before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, United States Senate, FTC-FCC Joint Policy Forum on Fighting the Scourge of Illegal Robocalls, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission: "Still Ringing Off the Hook: An Update on Efforts To Combat Robocalls," Before the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission On Combatting Illegal Robocalls: Initiatives To End the Epidemic, Blog Post: Do Not Robocall Me: The FTC Strikes Back, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission Entitled Stopping Fraudulent Robocall Scams: Can More Be Done?, Concurring Statement of Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Avoid Coronavirus Scams - Tip 1: Hang Up on Robocalls, Robocall Challenge Winners Press Conference, FTC Robocall Challenge: Consumer Tips & Tricks. We enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. The current informal consumer complaint process is a vital tool for the Commission. In addition, public entities often contact Enforcement Bureau staff directly about robocalling and spoofing matters. In the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), Congress directed the Commission to establish regulations to create a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to a call or text message that violates prohibitions regarding robocalls or spoofing set forth section 227(b) and 227(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Once submitted, the Bureau will review to determine whether the information presents evidence of a violation of our rules. Section 227(e) prohibits unlawful spoofingthe transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Federal Register Use our visualizations to explore scam and fraud trends in your state based on reports from consumers like you. For complete information about, and access to, our official publications 14. Find the resources you need to understand how consumer protection law impacts your business. We agree with comments expressing the importance of vetting submitted information and protecting confidentiality. I had breast cancer, so they knew how to get me, she said. In the 2 year period examined by Reuters, records show, TPFE and three other Zeitlin firms earned more than $27.6 million for PAC fundraising. But scam PACs are not like other political action committees. It is further ordered Sections 64.1204(a) and 64.1606(a) contain new or modified information collection requirements that require review by OMB under the PRA. rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial Updated: 05/04/2018 05:00 AM EDT. We are appalled at the events that culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol, the company said in a statement. Open for Comment, Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions, Economic Sanctions & Foreign Assets Control, Fisheries of the Northeastern United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, PART 64MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS, https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2021-14711, MODS: Government Publishing Office metadata, https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/06171386503472/FCC-21-75A3.pdf. https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/06171386503472/FCC-21-75A3.pdf. 10. Mailing address: 8228 FAWN MEADOW AVE LAS VEGAS, NV 89149. Stop robocalls with Nomorobo Consistent with these privacy protections, however, the Bureau may share information gathered from the portal with other government agencies combatting robocalls. 8. The President of the United States communicates information on holidays, commemorations, special observances, trade, and policy through Proclamations. For instance, the operation raised $16.8 million for PACs founded by Robert Piaro of Fredonia, Wisconsin, which purported to support police, veterans and people with breast cancer. Laura Strickler is a senior investigative producer and reporter for NBC News. 154(i), 154(j), and 227, and section 10(a) of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, Public Law 116-105, 133 Stat. While acknowledging that every industry has its bad apples,he wrote: To this day it strikes me as odd that an industry that has over the years hired hundreds of thousands of people (perhaps millions), many of whom had trouble holding down more traditional day jobs, would become such a punching bag for the government and the media.. That process is a well-established one that consumers have come to understand and depend upon. Information about this document as published in the Federal Register. Its the only thing in life Ive ever been (expletive) good at, said Armstrong, who records show has theft and drug convictions. The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable ) on December 8, 2020, proposing to establish a streamlined process for private entities to submit information about robocall violations to the Commission. This is a summary of the Commission's Report and Order, in EB Docket No. Quoting from its website, the "Committee for Police Officers' Defense is a 527 Committee designed to seek out radical prosecutors, judges and district attorneys." Another organization is. by the Foreign Assets Control Office a phone number), the caller ID information displayed, the phone number(s) called, the date(s) and time(s) of the relevant calls or texts, the name of the reporting private entity's service provider, and a description of the problematic calls or texts. Police officers defense back. fcc504@fcc.gov The Republican Attorneys General Association raised more than $18 million in 2020 from several top corporations, including Pepsi, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News. On September 1, 2009, new FTC rules went into effect prohibiting most prerecorded telemarketing calls, commonly known as robocalls, unless the telemarketer has the consumers prior written authorization to transmit such calls. A JPMorgan spokesperson said its political action committee donated $25,000 to the attorneys general group and none of it went to the Rule of Law Defense Fund. Always Be Closing, one poster read. For example, in two enforcement actions, a medical paging company was a key source; it informed the Bureau that the paging company's phone lines were being bombarded by spoofed robocalls. 1503 & 1507. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. We were very clear with RAGA that we could not continue our relationship unless we had assurances that they take steps to ensure that nothing like this would happen again.. We anticipate that this portal will be particularly useful to private entities experiencing large scale robocall incidents and voice service providers that have network analytic information. The TRACED Act directs the Commission no later than June 30, 2021 to prescribe regulations to establish a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to violations of section 227(b) or 227(e) of the Communications Act. Authority delegations (Government agencies). 26. The Sylacauga call center employed work release inmates, an arrangement that apparently ended before 2018, the former callers said. Elsewhere in the Communications Act, however, Congress used the term person to include individuals and organizational entities. Cherokee Nation Businesses does not condone these actions and strongly condemns the insurrectionists and all those who instigated the disruption of the federal government through their words and actions.. To protect law enforcement methods and techniques, we decline to adopt SAFE Credit Union's suggestion to detail the exact steps and criteria that the Bureau will use to evaluate the information submitted. on i.e., Zeitlin did not respond to questions about this issue. The authority citation for part 0 continues to read as follows: Authority: We were good at slick-talking these people, one former caller, a felon, said of unwitting donors. announcing that compliance date and revising this paragraph accordingly. They said to pitch it like it was a charity but as quietly and quickly as you can, slip in that it was a PAC, said Lefler, who worked at TPFE until March. Our mission is protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education without unduly burdening legitimate business activity. Scam PACs tend to slip through gaps among agencies that govern elections, charities and telemarketing, regulators say, leaving consumers exposed to misleading or fraudulent pitches. daniel.stepanicich@fcc.gov. Commenters were concerned that the definition proposed in the documents in the last year, 83 offers a preview of documents scheduled to appear in the next day's documents in the last year, 1411 It is not an official legal edition of the Federal She is based in Washington. This is John calling from the committee. Some telemarketers who claim to be raising money for causes like homeless veterans and cancer victims work for political action committees (PACs), not charities, and keep much of the money they raise. Federal election laws were designed to prevent corruption, he said, not to protect consumers.. Reuters obtained FTC complaint records, with names redacted, through a Freedom of Information Act request. Reuters gains rare access into the world of fundraising for these charitable-sounding political action committees, a tiny but profitable niche in the U.S. telemarketing industry. establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned Those calls used a recording of Trump's . We recognize that consumers might mistakenly file complaints through the new streamlined process rather than the existing consumer complaint process. The Commission has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, concurs that this rule is non-major under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. and services, go to Start Printed Page 52841 from 36 agencies. I have directed an internal review of this matter.. ), send an email to It spent $103,700 on behalf of House candidates about 3% of the total, and it has contributed nothing directly to veterans groups. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. 30 days after publication in the Thus, a private entity is only in a position to provide information about calls that it suspects are violations of the law. How Scam PACs fall through the cracks of U.S. regulators, The motto was, Leave your morals at the door, said Alexander Lefler, 21, who worked for nearly a year at a call center southeast of Birmingham, Alabama, describing what he saw as high-pressure and deceptive tactics. Private entity submissions of robocall violations. 151, 152, 154, 201, 202, 217, 218, 220, 222, 225, 226, 227, 227b, 228, 251(a), 251(e), 254(k), 262, 276, 403(b)(2)(B), (c), 616, 620, 1401-1473, unless otherwise noted, Pub. It wasnt easy: The secretive nature of this and other fundraising operations makes them difficult to pin down, he said, and he was able to identify the many players involved only by using subpoena power. 804(2). 4. documents in the last year, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission We have never contributed to Rule of Law Defense Fund. 25. The fundraisers later went to work for PACs under the names Politicause and Pledge Assistance, both registered in Wyoming, which requires little disclosure from corporations. Going byvarious names, the fundraising operation has worked for some of the same PACs as Zeitlins firms have and has employed some of the same people, according to internal PAC records, state corporate filings, employee interviews and deposition testimony in a civil case unrelated to this article. Bass, who set up several other super PACs, declined to comment. The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal CTIA, SAFE Credit Union (SAFE), Twilio, Inc., and USTelecom-The Broadband Association (USTelecom) filed comments. We kind of all understood what we were doing was wrong, but I needed a place to live..