Spoofing a phone number is bad. Spoofing the phone number of your “bitter” competitor and then making more than 47,000 pre-recorded robocalls is even worse. Which is why the Federal Communications Commission has imposed a fine of nearly $10 million on Kenneth Moser for intentionally trying to harm the business of his competition.
A copy of the forfeiture order can be accessed by clicking here.
The calls were made two days before a primary election in California in 2018. Moser was hired by the relative of a candidate for a seat in the California State Assembly to communicate accusations about another candidate running for the seat. Moser, using the number of a “long-time business rival” placed 47,610 unlawful pre-recorded calls that led the competitor to receive a multitude of complaints from consumers as well as a cease-and-desist letter from the subject of the message that threatened litigation.
Last December, the FCC proposed a fine of $9,997,750 for Moser’s role on orchestrating the calls. Moser responded to the notice, saying he thought that his competitor was no longer using the number in question and that his due process rights were being violated.
None of that really mattered to the FCC, though, because Moser knowingly violated the Truth in Caller ID Act by transmitting inaccurate or misleading caller ID information. Moser’s argument that he thought the number was no longer in use “misses the point,” the FCC determined. “The issue is not whether the number was in use, but whether Moser had a right to use the number,” the FCC said. “He did not, and he knew it. Moser does not deny that the caller ID information was inaccurate and misleading, nor does he claim that a call recipient could identify or reach the true entity that placed the robocalls.”
Along with violating the Truth in Caller ID Act, the FCC also found that Moser violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by refusing to identify the caller when making the pre-recorded messages. The name used in the recording was a pseudonym, which Moser said was used to protect the identity of the individual behind the calls.
