DELAWARE, MARYLAND, VIRGINIA - An Anti-Robocall Multistate Task Force including all three Delmarva states has initiated a lawsuit against a company they say conducted billions of illegal robocalls.
The massive multi-state lawsuit was filed against Michael D. Lansky, LLC (doing business as Avid Telecom), its owner Michael Lansky, and its vice president Stacey S. Reeves.
Avid Telecom is reportedly a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that sells data, phone numbers, and expertise on assisting its customers to make mass robocalls. It also allegedly allegedly facilitated in routing illegal robocalls across the country.
“We often think of illegal robocalls as a nuisance, but they are also predatory and can be catastrophic when they ensnare innocent consumers in scams,” Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement, joining numerous other Attorneys General in the suit. “This lawsuit takes aim at one of the worst offenders in this space, and is a direct result of the states working together on this issue."
The lawsuit alleges Avid Telecom sent or transmitted more than 24.5 billion calls nationwide from 2018 to 2023, with 7.5 billion of those going to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. 27 million of those calls were to Delawareans, according Jennings’ office.
“We cannot allow fraudulent robocallers to invade homes, disrupt lives, and violate the trust of Marylanders," Maryland Attorney General Brown said. "This lawsuit is a significant step towards stopping these illegal robocalls and preventing bad actors from defrauding Marylanders of their personal information and their hard-earned money by deceiving them into picking up their phones."
Avid Telecom allegedly sent or transmitted scam calls about Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams, and employment scams. 8.4 million of the calls appeared to be coming from government and law enforcement agencies, as well as private companies, according to the suit.