FCC proposes $300M fine for robocall operation

(NBC) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Thursday that it issued a record-breaking $300-million fine against an operation that used millions of robocalls to try to scam customers concerning their auto warranties.

That's a record-breaking fine, according to a news release from the agency. It was initially proposed late last year.

The FCC said this investigation involved the largest robocalling operation they've ever seen, comprised of scammers who placed five billion auto warranty calls to more than 500 million phone numbers during a three-month span in 2021.

Those calls violated federal spoofing laws by using more than a million various caller ID numbers to mask where the actual calls were coming from and trick their potential victims into picking up the phone.

The FCC concluded that the scheme began in at least 2018.

The ploy involved selling fake vehicle service contracts under the guise of pushing auto warranties.

Two central figures of the operation, Roy M. Cox and Aaron Michael Jones have had lifetime bans level against them from making telemarketing calls.

The fine also comes with an announcement of new robocall investigation partnerships with the Attorneys General of Hawaii and New Mexico.

46 states have signed up to share evidence and coordinate investigations to stop these illegal campaigns.