Avid Telecom Facilitated Billions of Spam Calls, Says State AGs

A company that allegedly facilitated billions of spam calls is being sued by nearly every attorney general in the country for allegedly breaking consumer protection and telemarketing laws, according to a complaint filed Tuesday.

Avid Telecom, a voice over Internet protocol provider, facilitated more than 7.5 billion calls to numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry, according to a complaint filed by AGs in 48 states plus the District of Columbia. The complaint alleged that Avid facilitated more than 24.5 billion calls between December 2018 and January 2023, and more than 90% of those calls lasted less than 15 seconds, indicating that they were likely to be automated calls.

The AGs also name two Avid executives as defendants: CEO Michael Lansky and Vice President of Operations and Sales Stacey Reeves.

According to the complaint, Avid is selling phone numbers, data and dialing software that allows customers to make bulk robocalls. Using Avid’s services, customers could pretend to spoof the area codes of their calls to match those of their recipients, increasing the likelihood of them dropping out.

Calls allegedly facilitated by Avid included scams about the Social Security Administration, Medicare, auto warranties, Amazon, credit card interest rate cuts, and more.

A group appointed by the Federal Communications Commission to notify providers of suspected illegal robocalls sent at least 329 notifications to Avid about the suspected spam, according to the AGs. But Avid reportedly ignored the warnings.

The lawsuit is the result of the work of a bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which prosecutes high-volume robocall cases.

“Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, Avid Telecom operates in a manner that complies with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations,” Avid said in a statement. “The company has never been found guilty by any court or regulatory authority of transmitting illegal traffic and is prepared to meet with attorneys general, as it has done numerous times in the past, to demonstrate further his good faith and lawful conduct.”

Avid said it was “disappointed” that the AGs did not raise their concerns directly before filing the complaint. He said he would “defend himself vigorously and assert his rights and reputation through the legal process”.

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