In a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a multi-million dollar fine against a Chicago-based company for a robocall scheme that impersonated agents of the agency.
In a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) for Forfeiture issued in early February, Commission members unanimously approved a proposal to levy a nearly $4.5 million fine against Telnyx LLC. According to the Notice, the company made automated, pre-recorded phone calls in early February 2024 to over a dozen staff of the FCC as well as some staff family members.
The call messages claimed to originate from the FCC itself and instructed recipients to “press one” to speak with a representative of the FCC’s “Fraud Prevention Team.” Call recipients who did so were then told to pay the FCC $100 in Google gift cards for their “crimes against the state.”
The FCC has no fraud prevention team and did not initiate these calls.
Telnyx has 30 days from the date the NAL was issued to either pay the fine in full or file a written response justifying a reduction or cancellation of the proposed penalty.
The text of the FCC’s Notice in connection with Telnyx is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-409354A1.pdf.
