A federal court in Montana has entered a $9.9 million penalty against an individual for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Truth in Caller ID Act causing thousands of spoofed robocalls.
Scott Rhodes, who lives in Idaho and Montana, accused of making unlawful robocalls to consumers in a number of states. The calls displaced inaccurate Caller IDs, indicating they were local numbers, which induced recipients to answer the calls and listen to recorded messages. The messages were highly inflammatory and disturbing, according to prosecutors, and were directed at specific communities. One example was a spoofed robocall to hundreds of residents in an Iowa town in the aftermath of a woman’s murder.
The Federal Communications Commission traced the calls to Rhodes and imposed a $9.9 million penalty against him in January 2021. Later that year, the Justice Department sued Rhodes to recover the penalty and obtain an injunction. In October of last year, prosecutors moved for summary judgment, which was awarded last week, ordering Rhodes to repay the full amount of the fine.
“When persistent and malicious robocallers break the law, it takes strong partnerships like this one to bring them to justice,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of the FCC in a statement. “I thank the Justice Department team, in conjunction with FCC lawyers, for vigorously pursuing this penalty. I especially want to thank FCC investigators for tracking down this robocaller and building such a strong case. Our agency will continue to relentlessly pursue these unwanted robocalls and build on our multi-faceted collaborative approach with law enforcement agencies at home, as well as the growing partnerships we’re fostering with our counterparts abroad, so that we can quickly and effectively neutralize bad actors.”