【2003 Archives】

003 Archivesguys who have been trying to reach you concerning your vehicle's extended warranty as a facade to get your personal and financial information were just fined the most money in FCC history.

First, the Federal Communications Commission told phone companies to block the numbers that sent it, decreasing the number of calls by 99 percent. And, on Thursday, the FCC issued a record-breaking $299,997,000 fine to the callers. 

"An international network of companies violated federal statutes and the Commission’s regulations when they executed a scheme to make more than five billion robocalls to more than 500 million phone numbers during a three-month span in 2021, including violating federal spoofing laws by using more than one million different caller ID numbers in an attempt to disguise the true origin of the robocalls and trick victims into answering the phone," the agency said in a statement.

It was the largest illegal robocall operation the FCC has ever investigated, so it's no wonder that "we've been trying to reach you concerning your vehicle's extended warranty" became meme-worthy.

• The FCC is finally cracking down on robotexts
• The FCC says 'game over' for providers that don't address robocalls
• FCC approves Starlink use in moving vehicles
• FCC flags Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky as risk to national security
• A net neutrality activist trolled the FCC with a paid 'fast lane' outside their office

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"We know the scam artists behind these calls are relentless," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement, "but we are coming for them and won’t stop until we get this junk off the line."