An investigator set out to discover the source of one robocall. Turns out, his target made them by the millions. Follow along as we reprint one part of this investigation each day, "Serial"-style.
Today we’re sharing Part 4. To catch up on Parts 1-3:
Part 1: https://www.paronichlaw.com/news-1/2020/7/28/an-investigator-set-out-to-discover-the-source-of-one-robocall-turns-out-his-target-made-them-by-the-millions-follow-along-as-we-reprint-one-part-of-this-investigation-each-day-serial-style
Part 2: https://www.paronichlaw.com/news-1/2020/7/29/6893buduw5t8oig6zw20tt1r4f4urj
Part 3: https://www.paronichlaw.com/news-1/2020/7/30/an-investigator-set-out-to-discover-the-source-of-one-robocall-turns-out-his-target-made-them-by-the-millions-follow-along-as-we-reprint-one-part-of-this-investigation-each-day-serial-style
03.25.2019 06:00 AM
On the Trail of the Robocall King
An investigator set out to discover the source of one scammy robocall. Turns out, his target made them by the millions.
PART FOUR
ON APRIL 18, 2018, Adrian Abramovich appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Ten months earlier, with help from Garvin and Young, the FCC had accused him of a “massive caller ID spoofing operation” and slapped him with a proposed $120 million fine, then the largest in the history of the FCC. The agency identified Abramovich as the source of 96,758,223 illegal robocalls. The laws governing robocalls are complex and sometimes contradictory, enforced by multiple agencies, and with layers of exceptions and loopholes. But the gist is simple enough: no calling cell phones, no using automated or prerecorded messages, and no using fake names or numbers. According to the FCC, Abramovich had broken all of these rules.
Abramovich arrived at the Russell Senate Office Building looking bewildered, as you might expect of someone compelled by congressional subpoena. In the past few years, there hadn’t been much that Democrats and Republicans in Congress could agree on. Health care, immigration, taxes, deficits—every debate, every topic and idea was us vs. them. Here, finally, was an issue that perfectly bridged the partisan divide: a burning hatred of robocalls. As soon as the hearing began, the senators pounced, clearly relishing the chance to lay into the stout man at the witness table. Abramovich, wearing a suit and glasses and with his hair pulled back into a neat man bun, looked trapped. Senator Richard Blumenthal kicked things off. Abramovich, Blumenthal said, had assembled a “phenomenal record of consumer abuse.” Looking directly at him, he declared: “You have become the face of this problem.”
Though Abramovich refused to talk about his own actions, he insisted that all of the vacation packages were on the up-and-up and that no consumers were misled. Sure, the calls were actually just the entrée to find customers for expensive time-shares, but it was all there in the fine print of the deals. (The FCC was only interested in the robocalling violations, not whether the trips themselves were scams.) Besides, he was just the middleman, connecting American consumers to Mexican companies. As the questioning continued, Abramovich took great care to distinguish the “good guy” robocallers like himself, who were offering “legitimate services or products,” from the true scam artists. “I receive four or five robocalls a day,” he added, as if to give his Everyman bona fides. “I never answer the phone.” These replies elicited little sympathy from the senators. “The efficiency and the magnitude of your robocall campaign is truly historic,” said Senator Ed Markey, who pointed out that he had written the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, one of the laws that Abramovich was accused of violating. “Do you understand why it irritates people? Do you understand why they don’t want these unwanted calls, Mr. Abramovich?”
It went on like that: 45 minutes of US senators scolding the seemingly baffled kingpin of robocalling.
https://www.wired.com/story/on-the-trail-of-the-robocall-king/
Stay tuned for Part 5 tomorrow…