Late last week, the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to fine Tele Circuit Network Corp. $4.1 million for unlawfully switching consumers from their preferred carrier to Tele Circuit without consent and adding unauthorized charges to consumers' bills.
According to the FCC's announcement:
The FCC's Enforcement Bureau investigation-which was first prompted by consumer complaints-also found that Tele Circuit had deceptively marketed its services, including by falsely claiming that its telemarketing calls were from the consumer's current carrier. The telemarketers also discussed a fictitious government program for low-income individuals and senior citizens as a way to solicit consumer consent. Following such calls, the company switched consumers' local and long-distance service providers-often called slamming-and, in some cases, added unauthorized charges to the consumer's bill-often called cramming. Tele Circuit apparently disconnected local and long-distance service in some cases after not receiving payment for the unauthorized charges.
The FCC began its investigation after a series of consumer complaints to the FCC, state regulators and the Better Business Bureau. According to the FCC, a "large percentage of the complaints came from low-incomer Americans and senior citizens or people filing complaints on behalf of elderly or inform relatives." After its investigation, the FCC proposed a $5.3 million fine in 2018. As reported by Law360, the FCC told reporters during a conference call that the agency eventually lowered the proposed penalty to $4.1 million because of the difficulty with enforcing certain accusations, including that Tele Circuit used third parties to deceptively obtain consumers' consent to switch carriers.
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