FTC ends four major automated operations

The four organizations involved in the FTC crackdown include:

• NetDotSolutions, a large-scale operation that calls unsuspecting consumers, automatic warranties to home security systems and supposed debt relief services. The company has been accused of leaving illicit pre-recorded messages, calling numbers on the registry of excluded phone numbers and using a spoofed identity to call consumers. The company is fined $ 1.35 million.
• Higher Goals Marketing, a company that used automated calls to promise consumers to reduce the interest rates on their credit cards. The operators of Higher Goals Marketing were previously part of another operation, called Life Management Services, which was closed by court order. The organization has been fined $ 3.15 million under the recent settlement.
• Veterans of America, perhaps the most biting of the operations involved in the FTC crisis. The company was part of an alleged charity scam headed by Travis Deloy Peterson, who had convinced people to donate cars, boats and other valuables. Peterson is accused of selling these items and keeping the profits. He is now facing a fine of just under $ 550,000.
• Pointbreak Media, a company accused of misrepresenting Google to encourage small businesses to buy services that can improve their page rank and position in search results. The company had no real affiliation with Google. The company was fined $ 3.62 million.

Although the FTC's attempts to eliminate individual automated call operations are brave, it is unlikely that they will have a real impact on the number of automated calls that people receive. According to YouMail's Robocall Index, more than 4.9 billion automatic calls were made in February. That figure has risen most months since a US court overturned a decision by the Federal Communications Commission to limit automated appeals. Lawmakers are working on new laws that could help slow the pace of calls and operators are finally providing consumers with tools to help crush unwanted messages, but for now, calls are continuing.