January 3, 2024 at 03:12AM
The U.S. Department of Justice settled with VoIP provider XCast for illegal telemarketing campaigns. The agreement requires compliance measures and a $10 million penalty, suspended due to financial inability. XCast must sever ties with non-compliant firms. FTC also banned Response Tree for illegal robocalls and deceptive website practices, selling consumer data for telemarketing.
From the meeting notes dated January 3, 2024, it is evident that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has reached a settlement with VoIP service provider XCast over allegations of facilitating illegal telemarketing campaigns in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) since at least January 2018. The stipulated order requires XCast to meet compliance measures, including establishing a process for screening its customers, and it imposes a $10 million civil penalty judgment, which has been suspended due to XCast’s inability to pay.
The DoJ stated that XCast transmitted billions of illegal robocalls to American consumers, including scam calls fraudulently claiming to be from government agencies and containing false or misleading information. As a part of the proposed settlement, XCast has been ordered to cut ties with firms that do not adhere to U.S. telemarketing laws.
Additionally, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Response Tree of making illegal robocalls and calls to phone numbers on the Do Not Call Registry, resulting in a ban on Response Tree from engaging in these activities. The FTC also accused the company of using manipulative dark patterns to gather personal information from consumers and selling it to telemarketers for making illegal telemarketing calls.
These developments underscore the increasing regulatory scrutiny and actions against companies involved in illegal telemarketing practices. If you have any further questions or need additional details, please feel free to ask.