The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) has sent cease and desist letters to “three network providers—Duratel, Primo Dialler, and PZ/Illum Telecommunication—demanding that these providers immediately cease originating illegal robocall campaigns on their networks, many of which originated overseas, and report to the Commission the concrete steps they are implementing to prevent a recurrence of these operations.”

According to the FCC’s News Release, “investigations by the Enforcement Bureau, in conjunction with the industry-led Traceback Consortium, indicate that these companies each transmitted multiple illegal robocall campaigns on their networks. Duratel and PZ/Illum originated substantial numbers of government imposter scam calls including posing as the Social Security Administration, the Federal Reserve, or the Department of Homeland Security. Primo Dialler originated robocalls that threatened utility discontinuation and offered fake credit card rate reductions. The FCC identified the providers based on Industry Traceback Group information, which identifies the providers that receive the most tracebacks over a 60-day period, as well as information from the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.”

Under the terms of the letters, “Duratel, Primo Dialler, and PZ/Illum Telecommunication must take steps to ‘effectively mitigate illegal traffic’ within 48 hours. And they must inform the Commission and the Traceback Consortium within fourteen days of the steps taken to implement effective measures to prevent their clients from using their network to make illegal calls. If they do not take such steps, other networks will be authorized, and may even be required, to block traffic from these companies.”

The Bureau issued similar letters to other companies in March, April, and May of this year.