Does Your IMO Say Press 1/Robo Call Leads Are Legal?

Josh

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I realize this conversation gets beaten to death every now and again, but I thought this article was interesting and relevant.

FTC Action Puts Robocallers Out of the Telemarketing Business

FTC Action Puts Robocallers Out of the Telemarketing Business
Defendants Allegedly Responsible for Billions of Calls; Will Give Up Assets Totaling Roughly $3 Million
The Federal Trade Commission put a robocall operation out of the telemarketing business under a settlement resolving FTC charges that it bombarded consumers with more than two billion calls pitching a variety of products and services, including worthless extended auto warranties and credit card interest rate-reduction programs.

The final settlement order against SBN Peripherals, based near Los Angeles, which did business as Asia Pacific Telecom Inc., is part of the FTC's ongoing crackdown on deceptive robocallers. The order bans the defendants from telemarketing and requires them to give up roughly $3 million in assets.

The FTC's complaint alleged that the defendants delivered illegal prerecorded phone calls falsely claiming the caller had urgent information about the consumer's auto warranty or credit card interest rate. Consumers who pressed "1" for more information were transferred to telemarketers who used fraudulent practices to sell inferior extended auto service contracts or worthless debt-reduction services. According to court papers filed by the court-appointed receiver, from January 2008 through August 2009, the defendants completed approximately 2.6 billion outbound robocalls that were answered by approximately 1.6 billion consumers, approximately 12.8 million of whom were connected to a sales agent.

As alleged in the complaint, the defendants violated the law by using robocalls to contact consumers without their written permission and called telephones listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. To make it difficult for consumers to identify the seller, the FTC also alleged that the defendants' robocalls often transmitted caller ID information vaguely identifying the caller as "SALES DEPT" and displaying telephone numbers registered to an offshore company it controlled called Asia Pacific Telecom.

Under the proposed settlement order, Repo B.V.; SBN Peripherals Inc., doing business as SBN Dials; Johan Hendrik Smit Duyzentkunst; and Janneke Bakker-Smit Duyzentkunst are banned from telemarketing. The order also prohibits them from misrepresenting any good or service, and from selling or otherwise benefitting from customers' personal information, and requires them to properly dispose of customers' personal information within 30 days. The order imposes a $5.3 million judgment that will be suspended, based on their inability to pay, when they have surrendered assets valued at approximately $3 million, including more than $1 million obtained from a bank account in Hong Kong, a $375,000 lien on a home, a 50 percent interest in an office building in Saipan, the defendants' interest in seven parcels of undeveloped land, as well as three cars and a recreational vehicle. The full judgment will become due immediately if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.

The Commission vote approving the proposed consent order was 4-0. It is subject to court approval. The FTC filed the proposed consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

To hear telemarketing sales pitches used in this case, click Auto Warranty audio 1, Auto Warranty audio 2, Credit Card audio 1, and Credit Card audio 2.

To learn more about telemarketing scams, read Who's Calling? Recognize and Report Phone Fraud, You Make the Call: The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the FTC's new consumer alert, Robocalls are Illegal: Scammers Use False Caller IDs to Hide. The FTC also offers How to Steer Clear of Auto Warranty Scams and Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction Scams. To inform business owners, the FTC offers Reining in Robocalls and Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

NOTE: This consent order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendants that the law has been violated. Consent orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC's website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Frank Dorman
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674
STAFF CONTACT:
Steven M. Wernikoff
FTC's Midwest Region
312-960-5634
(Asia-Pacific Telecom)
(FTC File No. X100035)
 
What about the HIPPA loophole where it is 100% legal?

What a joke, ROBOCALLS ARE ILLEGAL FOR INSURANCE.

Open and shut. I'm sick of IMO's or people selling leads trying to convince me otherwise. They talk down thier nose to you like you are some *** and they have special lawyers that found exceptions to the law.
 
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Just don't do it in Indiana, they had the FTC, the other federal dept, and the state of indiana on c-span last week. they don't have enough people to investigate, all the complaints, They are targeting the credit fixers, they are out and out scammers. I believe at first they send you a letter to stop, then hit you with fines. Once you press 1 or even 2. They don't answer, but they captured your phone number then sell it. When you call live, no violation.
 
I'm seeing "voicemail" ads for: Voice Leads | Exclusive Life & Final Expense Voicemails & Direct Live Transfers and I can't help but wonder if this is legal. Seems like it would not be.
Can anyone confirm or comment on this site?

Yes, those are totally, completely, and undeniably illegal.
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Translation: I like to come on the forum and spam, hoping I can find some suckers to buy overpriced CE hours.

It looks like he spent as much time writing the post as I spend reading my CE courses?
 
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It's amazing they are still advertising this....blatantly:

First, we generate a list in the specific area you desire and can be according to area code, county, city or state and scrub the list against the National Do Not Call Registry then start your campaign. When a person answers the phone, they will listen to a 30 to 45 second message regarding insurance that you get to choose. At the end, they have an option to move forward with the pitch message or be removed from the list. If they choose to move forward, the live person is prompted to either leave you a voicemail message (if you are running a voicemail campaign) or they are prompted to connect directly to a live agent by pressing 1 (if you are running the direct transfer campaign). If voicemail campaign, only the positive voicemails defined as a prospect who leaves their name and phone number, are sent via email to you. The email contains the voice message audio file of the prospective client as an attachment, the time and date stamp of when the live person responded and the phone number we dialed to generate the lead. Voicemail leads are emailed to you in real time usually within five minutes.
 
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