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A company that allegedly facilitated billions of spam calls is being sued by nearly every attorney general in the country for violating consumer protection and telemarketing laws, according to a complaint submitted Tuesday.
Avid Telecom, a Voice over Internet Protocol provider, facilitated more than 7.5 billion calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, according to a complaint filed by AGs from 48 states plus the District of Columbia. The complaint alleged that Avid facilitated more than 24.5 billion calls between December 2018 and January 2023, and more than 90% of those calls lasted less than 15 seconds, indicating they were likely robocalls.
The AGs name two Avid executives who also charged: CEO Michael Lansky and Vice President of Operations and Sales Stacey Reeves.
According to the complaint, Avid would sell phone numbers, data and dialing software that allowed customers to make bulk phone calls. By using Avid’s services, customers were allegedly able to spoof the area codes of their calls to match those of the recipients, making them more likely to answer.
Calls allegedly facilitated by Avid included fraud on the Social Security Administration, Medicare, auto warranties, Amazon, lowering credit card interest rates and more.
A group appointed by the Federal Communications Commission to notify providers of suspected illegal robocalls sent at least 329 messages to Avid about the suspected spam, the AGs allege. But Avid allegedly ignored the warnings.
The lawsuit is a result of the work of a bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which prosecutes high volumes of robocall cases.
“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,” Avid said in a statement. “The company has never been found by any court or regulatory authority to have transmitted illegal traffic and is prepared to meet with the Attorney General, as it has done on numerous occasions in the past, to further demonstrate its good faith and lawful conduct.”
Avid said it is “disappointed” the AGs did not convey their concerns directly before filing the lawsuit. It said it would “vigorously defend itself and assert its rights and reputation through the legal process.”
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