HARTFORD, Conn. — Attorney General William Tong announced on Tuesday that he is suing Avid Telecom for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people.
Tong claims that Avid Telecom is violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.
Avid Telecom sent or transmitted more than 7.5 billion calls to telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. More than 87.6 million of those calls were to numbers in Connecticut alone.
“Avid Telecom and its owners transmitted billions of illegal robocalls and enabled criminal spammers to prey on American families. In coordination with nearly every attorney general nationwide, we are suing today to shut down these fraud enablers and hold them accountable for the massive harm they have caused,” said Attorney General Tong.
“Not only are constant robocalls annoying, they are used to carry out scams and fraud against unsuspecting consumers,” said Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli. “If you answer a call from an unknown number, be wary. If the caller or pre-recorded message claims to be from a government agency such as the IRS or Social Security Administration, it is likely a scam. Typically, these agencies don’t make phone calls to individuals. Hang up immediately if they ask you for personal information, or to make a payment by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency.”
Avid Telecom allegedly sent or transmitted scam calls about Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams, and employment scams.
Tuesday's legal action comes from the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force of 51 bipartisan attorneys general. Connecticut is among 16 states on the Executive Committee leading this task force. The task force is investigating and taking legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States.
Other investigations by the Task Force remain active and ongoing.
Tong gave tips to avoid scams and unwanted calls:
- Be wary of callers who specifically ask you to pay by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency. For example, the Internal Revenue Service does not accept iTunes gift cards.
- Look out for prerecorded calls from imposters posing as government agencies. Typically, the Social Security Administration does not make phone calls to individuals.
- If you suspect fraudulent activity, immediately hang up and do not provide any personal information.
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