US Federal Court imposed a fine in the amount of $9,918,000 and issued a ban on the activity of an individual named Scott Roads for the commission of thousands of fake automated calls to residents of the United States.
Automated calls, known as robocalls, are made using software that automatically dials numbers and delivers a pre-recorded message to multiple recipients.
Despite the legal use of this technology for sales, public service announcements, charity requests, and political campaigns, attackers exploit it for spreading misinformation and various types of fraud, causing financial losses and distress among the population.
In 1991, the US authorities enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to restrict the use of robocall technology without recipient consent or in cases of abuse, such as fake debt collection.
Caller ID spoofing, often used in conjunction with robocalls, allows the falsification of the caller’s identity, making the call appear local or from a legitimate organization.
The US Department of Justice described Scott Roads’ actions as “illegal and malicious,” noting that he targeted specific regions with alarming messages through his robocall campaigns.
For instance, hundreds of fraudulent robocalls made by Roads were aimed at Brooklyn residents following the murder of a local woman, and over 2,000 fake calls were sent to Charlottesville, Virginia, during the investigation and trial of James Alex Fields Jr. for the events of the “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017.
Residents who received these calls reported them to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), leading authorities to trace the harmful activity back to Roads, a resident of Idaho and Montana.
In September 2021, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Roads, and a decision was reached in October 2023 without a trial.
Finally, on March 22, the Federal Court in Montana imposed the penalty and injunction against Roads for his fraudulent robocall activities.