Neither Zeitlin nor his attorney would comment on the FTC lawsuit. Caller type: Scammer/Fraudster. Some of the workers for TPFE also had felony convictions, according to several former callers and court records. The Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, which donated $150,000 in 2020, said it has requested an immediate refund of its sponsorship to the Republican Attorneys General Association, and the organization obliged. While we encourage private entities to make use of the registered consortium's resources, we decline to mandate that private entities must coordinate with the consortium prior to submitting information to the Commission. Its infuriating, said Angelides, who learned from Reuters that it was a PAC that got his money. We agree with Twilio that private entities and consumers should be directed to a centralized reporting mechanism, but we also find that the new portal should be distinct from the existing informal consumer complaint process. We were very clear with RAGA that we could not continue our relationship unless we had assurances that they take steps to ensure that nothing like this would happen again.. the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for Coffee is for Closers Only, read another. And the groups they were raising money for werent charities at all, but political action committees, which normally are set up to gather funds for candidates or political causes. Although the portal will not reject submissions that fail to include the above information, such failure will make it more difficult for the Bureau to investigate fully and take appropriate enforcement action. We have never contributed to Rule of Law Defense Fund. and services, go to We could no longer say, We are helping police officers get body armor, but we could say, We are supporting efforts to get them body armor, said Jackie Armstrong, 32, a former Politicause employee. are amended a copy of this Report and Order Rulemaking, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. documents in the last year, 20 Third, consumers will not be adversely affected by our decision to exclude them from the definition of private entity. In the How Scam PACs fall through the cracks of U.S. regulators, The motto was, Leave your morals at the door, said Alexander Lefler, 21, who worked for nearly a year at a call center southeast of Birmingham, Alabama, describing what he saw as high-pressure and deceptive tactics. Few other top officers at these fundraising firms and PACS would speak to Reuters on the record. Add 64.1606 to subpart P to read as follows: (a) Any private entity may submit to the Enforcement Bureau information related to a call or text message that the private entity has reason to believe included misleading or inaccurate caller identification information in violation of 64.1604(a) or 47 U.S.C. For instance, the operation raised $16.8 million for PACs founded by Robert Piaro of Fredonia, Wisconsin, which purported to support police, veterans and people with breast cancer. The TRACED Act directs the Commission no later than June 30, 2021 to prescribe regulations to establish a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to violations of section 227(b) or 227(e) of the Communications Act. Even as they charmed millions from credulous donors, a dozen former callers for two major fundraisers told Reuters that they knew their companies would be keeping the vast majority of it. We also clarify that a public entity is any governmental organization at the federal, state, or local level. Committee type: Super PAC (Independent Expenditure-Only) Committee designation: Unauthorized. They called 4 times in one day. fcc504@fcc.gov 20-374, FCC-21-75, adopted and released on June 17, 2021. In return for tax-exempt status, charities generally must register with states, disclose their key employees and account for how the money is spent in some cases by providing audited financial statements. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis. that, pursuant to 1.4(b)(1) and 1.427(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.4(b)(1), 1.427(a), this Report and Order and the amendments to parts 0 and 64 of the Commission's rules, as set forth in In addition, public entities often contact Enforcement Bureau staff directly about robocalling and spoofing matters. Use our visualizations to explore scam and fraud trends in your state based on reports from consumers like you. Authority delegations (Government agencies). The company later was renamed Politicause. Listen; Transcript I'm glad you picked up I'll get my answer machine voice ready. In a statement to NBC News, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who runs the fund, said the calls were sent out without his knowledge. Our mission is protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education without unduly burdening legitimate business activity. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Some tips for consumers: Listen carefully for the name of the organization. In such cases, the Enforcement Bureau will forward such consumer complaints to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. It will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under section 3507(d) of the PRA. Gelvan was not accused of wrongdoing in the Montgomery County investigation. documents in the last year, 981 Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred., One of its members, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attended the rally and spoke to the crowd, saying, We will not quit fighting., Following the Capitol invasion, he tweeted, I am sorely disappointed today in the certification of the election, but I dont believe violence is the answer.. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. My job is to deliver a message, and try as best as I can to make sure Im not working for a scumbag, he said. Robocalls and the Do Not Call Registry. on that parts 0 and 64 of the Commission's rules Reached for comment, the Chamber of Commerce provided a statement from Harold Kim, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. An official website of the United States government. One Piaro committee, Americans for the Cure of Breast Cancer, garnered $1.6 million in donations through Zeitlins fundraising operations and made one charitable contribution, $10,000 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation less than 1% of the total raised, campaign filings show. We define private entity as any entity other than (1) an individual natural person or (2) a public entity. Across the industry, calls are computer-generated before being routed to telemarketers, something Politicause and TPFE employees said allowed their firms to maximize the number of calls and to pester people repeatedly. The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. Zeitlin, whose operations also have been examinedby the Center for Public Integrity and other media outlets, said on his website that hes never been accused, indicted, tried or convicted of anything.. The Sylacauga call center employed work release inmates, an arrangement that apparently ended before 2018, the former callers said. regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of documents in the last year, by the Coast Guard Thus, a private entity is only in a position to provide information about calls that it suspects are violations of the law. from 36 agencies. For complete information about, and access to, our official publications Richard Zeitlin, the biggest fundraiser in the loose network identified by Reuters, told a reporter in a brief interview that he had closed down all of his call centers, saying I wanted a change in direction. Asked about ex-employees claims of deception in his companies PAC fundraising practices, he declined to discuss specifics. Zeitlin told Reuters he was not the target of the grand jury investigation. In the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), Congress directed the Commission to establish regulations to create a process that streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to a call or text message that violates prohibitions regarding robocalls or spoofing set forth section 227(b) and 227(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Register documents. You are not lying, but you are being extremely misleading. Drug abuse was a problem at both call centers, ex-employees said. 727-335-7484 - Committee For Police Officer's Defense 727-335-7484 Complaint Level Low Medium High 1 User Complaints Caller Name Committee For Police Officer's Defense 1 Caller Type Scammer/Fraudster 1 File a Complaint Owner Info for 727-335-7484 User Complaints for (727) 335-7484 Caller name: Committee for Police Officer's Defense The Commission has a well-established process for individual consumers to submit complaints about unwanted and suspected illegal robocalls and spoofed calls: The Commission's informal consumer complaint process, which the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau oversees. Neither he nor other officials at his company returned requests for comment. The FRFA is set forth in Appendix C. 18. In a small Alabama town at the edge of the Talladega National Forest, next to a Chinese restaurant, stands a shop with mirrored windows and no signs. electronic version on GPOs govinfo.gov. USTelecom requests that we encourage private entities to first coordinate with the registered traceback consortium prior to filing information in the portal. establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned Box 663 Butler, WI 53007 Visit Website (833) 878-5783 Average of 30. after OMB completes its review, and directs the Enforcement Bureau to cause 64.1204 and 64.1606 to be revised accordingly. Information about this document as published in the Federal Register. You are not lying, but you are being extremely misleading, said Jason Jones, 24, a former employee at Politicause. Second, we find that establishing a stand-alone process designed specifically to handle concerns from private entities ( What a racket, oh my God., On his website, Zeitlin said his firms revenue which he described as 80% to 90% of the proceeds may seem high but actually is standard for the industry and is needed to offset high costs for technology and intensive time-consuming labor.. An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their . This is John calling from the committee. 503, 132 Stat 348, 1091. The Committee for Police Officers' Defense (CPOD) The "Committee for Police Officer's Defense" (CPOD) was configured in order to complete an intrinsic goal. We were good at slick-talking these people, one former caller, a felon, said of unwitting donors. Recording / robocall Comments . The data in turn informs the Commission's policy work, serves as a deterrent to companies the Commission regulates and contributes to consumer protection efforts. We agree with commenters that including individuals within the definition of private entity would undermine the intent of the statute to streamline information collection about robocalls and spoofed calls, and would create confusion for consumers about whether to use the existing informal complaint process or the new portal, or both. Quoting from its website, the "Committee for Police Officers' Defense is a 527 Committee designed to seek out radical prosecutors, judges and district attorneys." Another organization is. While every effort has been made to ensure that But because that suggested donors were contributing directly to purchasing new gear, the callers said they were told by managers to adjust their language. 8. 804(2). Robocallers have apparently been using the name of a former Abilene City Councilman/Abilene businessman to try to entice people to give to a fake police charity. Document Drafting Handbook Lisa Cavazuti is an investigative reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit. Start Printed Page 52842 Good evening this is Mike Stevens calling for the Committee for police officers defense this calls recorded for quality assurance Ok Hello hello. But she said the panel has been paralyzed by partisan divisions and, more recently, a lack of a quorum. It is further ordered Federal Register The authority citation for part 0 continues to read as follows: Authority: on Most of the guys that are real good are felons., Regulators responsible for protecting U.S. consumers from potentially unscrupulous fundraisers face a bedeviling new challenge: the scam PAC.. information to inform Commission consumer protection policies as well as for analytical and consumer education purposes. edition of the Federal Register. We find that our decision to exclude individual consumers from the definition of private entity will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, potential confusion. Together Politicause and Pledge Assistance earned close to $20 million between January 2017 through mid-2019 raising money for PACS, campaign finance records show. The current informal consumer complaint process is a vital tool for the Commission. e.g., Two of the fundraising companies identified by Reuters employed jail inmates and ex-cons as telemarketers, according to interviews in Alabama with several former employees, as well as court records. Federal Register provide legal notice to the public and judicial notice We are appalled and condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms and have communicated that to RAGA. Relevant incidents might include a corporation or association experiencing a deluge of robocalls overwhelming their internal phone network or a voice service provider that found evidence of illegal robocalls traversing its network. Some of the most aggressive actions against allegedly deceptive PACs and their fundraisers have come from state or local law enforcement officials. It is further ordered Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official Looking for legal documents or records? Delany De Leon-Colon, postal inspector in charge of the USPS Criminal Investigation Unit, explained how the elderly are particularly likely to fall for robocall . Like many such telemarketing centers tucked away in strip malls or office parks, it offered no clues to what went on inside. In the 2 year period examined by Reuters, records show, TPFE and three other Zeitlin firms earned more than $27.6 million for PAC fundraising. documents in the last year, 282 Heroes United, accused of using deceptive tactics to get the firefighter donations, agreed to stop telemarketing in the county and to refund any donations. Search the Legal Library instead. Instead, the bulk of the money is kept by fundraising firms or the people running the PACs. It wasnt easy: The secretive nature of this and other fundraising operations makes them difficult to pin down, he said, and he was able to identify the many players involved only by using subpoena power. Its supporters also include interest groups such as the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was its top donor in 2020 with a $750,000 contribution. The .gov means its official. Stephanie T. Nguyen, Chief Technology Officer, Competition and Consumer Protection Guidance Documents, HSR threshold adjustments and reportability for 2023, A Century of Technological Evolution at the Federal Trade Commission, National Consumer Protection Week 2023 Begins Sunday, March 5, FTC at the 65th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market - NCPW 2023, Jason Cardiff (Redwood Scientific Technologies, Inc.), Telemarketer Fees to Access the FTCs National Do Not Call Registry to Increase in 2023, FTC Extends its Crackdown on Subscription Scam That Fleeced Consumers and Harassed Them Over the Phone, Federal Trade Commission Proposes Small Business Protections Against Telemarketing Tricks and Traps, FTC Takes Action to Stop Voice over Internet Provider from Facilitating Illegal Telemarketing Robocalls, Including Scams Relating to the Pandemic, Federal Court Rules in Favor of FTC, Halting Illegal Tactics Used to Promote Smoking Cessation, Weight-Loss, and Sexual-Performance Aids, FTC Issues Biennial Report to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry, FTC Issues Refunds Totaling More Than $1.8 Million to Consumers Defrauded by Lifewatch, Inc.s Deceptive Medical Alert Telemarketing Scheme, FTC Releases 2021 Do Not Call Registry Data Book; Reports Registrations and Consumer Complaints Both Increased in FY 2021, FTC to Ramp up Enforcement against Illegal Dark Patterns that Trick or Trap Consumers into Subscriptions, FTC Returns $1.1 Million to Consumers Who Lost Money to Alleged Scammers Selling Bogus Income Opportunities, FTC Testifies before the Senate Special Committee on Aging About the Agencys Work to Halt Practices that Prey on Older Americans, Seven Remaining Defendants in Massive Grand Bahama Cruise Line Operation Banned from Making Telemarketing Robocalls; Principals will Pay $100,000 in Civil Penalties, Telemarketer Fees to Access the FTCs National Do Not Call Registry to Increase in 2022, FTC Takes Action against Septic Tank Cleaning Company that Made Millions of Illegal Robocalls to Consumers Nationwide, FTC, 38 States, and D.C. Act to Shut Down Massive Charity Fraud Telefunding Operation, Scammers Who Used Robocalls to Target Cash-Strapped Consumers Banned from Selling Debt Relief Services and Telemarketing, FTC and FCC Send Joint Letters to Additional VoIP Providers Warning against Routing and Transmitting Illegal Coronavirus-related Robocalls, FTC and FCC Send Joint Letters to VoIP Service Providers Warning against Routing and Transmitting Illegal Coronavirus-related Robocalls, FTC Warns Nine VoIP Service Providers and Other Companies against Assisting and Facilitating Illegal Coronavirus-related Telemarketing Calls, FTC Warns 19 VoIP Service Providers That Assisting and Facilitating Illegal Telemarketing or Robocalling Is Against the Law, 4 reasons why the latest FTC robocall cases should matter to your business, FTC goes to court to unravel robocalling net, FTC challenges robocallers false threat that small businesses will be removed from Google, Decision bolsters FTC position on soundboard tech, Working Together to Protect Midwest Consumers: A Common Ground Conference, Common Ground: Fighting Schemes and Scams in a Tough Economy, North Carolina Consumer Protection Workshop, Midwest Region 2012 Common Ground Conference, Statement of Andrew Smith, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, at Operation Call It Quits Press Conference, Prepared Remarks of Chairman Joseph Simons at USTelecom Forum: Turning the Tide on Illegal Robocalls, Prepared Remarks of Chairman Joseph Simons at the ABA Consumer Protection Conference, Statement Of Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, U.S. House of Representatives, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission: Abusive Robocalls and How We Can Stop Them, Before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, United States Senate, FTC-FCC Joint Policy Forum on Fighting the Scourge of Illegal Robocalls, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission: "Still Ringing Off the Hook: An Update on Efforts To Combat Robocalls," Before the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission On Combatting Illegal Robocalls: Initiatives To End the Epidemic, Blog Post: Do Not Robocall Me: The FTC Strikes Back, Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission Entitled Stopping Fraudulent Robocall Scams: Can More Be Done?, Concurring Statement of Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Avoid Coronavirus Scams - Tip 1: Hang Up on Robocalls, Robocall Challenge Winners Press Conference, FTC Robocall Challenge: Consumer Tips & Tricks. on (c) Compliance dateparagraph (a) of this section contains a voluntary information collection. We acknowledge commenters' concerns that, at least initially, private entities might be confused about whether the consumer complaint process or the new streamlined process is a more appropriate place to submit information. (k) Perform such other functions as may be assigned or referred to it by the Commission. I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this weeks rally, said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. has no substantive legal effect. of the issuing agency. Police officers defense back. According to John Riggins,. We agree with the commenters and therefore exclude individual natural persons from the definition of private entity. daniel.stepanicich@fcc.gov. People are getting ripped off, Weintraub said in an interview. In recent years, some telemarketers have used technology to bombard consumers with hundreds of millions of prerecorded calls that are often unwanted and frequently deceptive. This prototype edition of the 154(i), 154(j), and 227, and section 10(a) of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, Public Law 116-105, 133 Stat. (269) 257-6522 is a Fake Police Charity Robocall Do not answer. Going byvarious names, the fundraising operation has worked for some of the same PACs as Zeitlins firms have and has employed some of the same people, according to internal PAC records, state corporate filings, employee interviews and deposition testimony in a civil case unrelated to this article. Weintraub and a fellow Democratic commissioner wrote a memo to that effect in 2016. Aside from the lions share that went to for-profit fundraisers, many of the PAC operators took a slice for salaries and overhead. legal research should verify their results against an official edition of But scam PACs are not like other political action committees. Jan. 8, 2021, 5:36 PM PST. Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Communications Act), is designed to protect consumers from unlawful robocalls. 03/03/2023, 1465 The Bureau will review information submitted through the portal to assess violations of the rules in the same manner that it reviews information submitted to the Commission through other means. documents in the last year, 11 That goal is to help police officers fight against the continuing "War on Cops" by taking a varied political stance against politicians, activist judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and a host of others who try to bring police officers down by any means. As his office pursued the money trail in the Bass investigation, for instance, Friedman said it came across an organization called Market Process Group, one of the eight fundraisers examined by Reuters. documents in the last year, 35 The call center in Sylacauga, visited by Reuters last year, was operated by Las Vegas-based TPFE Inc, a firm controlled by Zeitlin. 5. [FR Doc. I have directed an internal review of this matter.. Definition of Private Entity. Bass set up five super PACs allegedly dedicated to a range of causes including veterans and firefighters. On its website, this organization says you can be removed from its call list by completing this form . 11. adopted Thats what critics call political action committees that gobble up most of the money they raise rather than using it forthe charitable or other causes they profess to support.