A husband and wife from Arizona have been permanently barred from using the U.S. telephone system to send automated telephone calls playing pre-recorded messages as part of a consent order with the Justice Department.
A copy of the order in the case of United States of America v. Nicholas and Natasha Palumbo can be accessed by clicking here.
The pair were accused of making “hundreds of millions” of automated robocalls, according to the Justice Department. Along with agreeing to not commit or conspire to commit wire fraud, the defendants also agreed to:
- not use the U.S. telephone system, or causing others to use the U.S. telephone system, to convey automated telephone calls conveying recorded messages;
- not provide, or cause others to provide, call termination services for calls terminating in the United States or carrying any voice-over internet-protocol calls terminating in the United States;
- not provide direct-inward-dial or toll-free telephone services for calls originating in the United States, including providing direct-inward dial or toll-free phone numbers to other individuals or entities;
- not receive or send payment or cause others to receive or send payment in connection with any fraudulent telephone calls, including but not limited to any payment from any victim or other individual targeted by a fraudulent telephone call
The court had previously approved a temporary restraining order against the defendants, preventing them from making automated calls. The defendants were what are known as “gateway carriers” that allowed calls that were originated outside of the United States to enter our telecom system. One of the defendants was accused of making 720 million robocalls during one 23-day period, and 425 million of those calls lasted less than one second. In many cases, spoofed caller ID numbers were used when making the calls, according to the Justice Department.
