The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a forfeiture penalty of $5 million against a California company for deceptive practices in the marketing of prepaid calling cards to consumers.
In a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture issued in October 2012, the Commission cited NobelTel, LLC of Carlsbad, CA for targeting immigrant populations with marketing claims that the company’s calling cards would provide hundreds of calling minutes to foreign countries for just a few dollars, while failing to conspicuously disclose fees and surcharges that would leave only a fraction of the promised calling minutes available.
According to the Commission, NobelTel is the sixth carrier targeted by the FCC within the past year, with proposed forfeiture penalties totaling $30 million.
