or call the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). The Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, which donated $150,000 in 2020, said it has requested an immediate refund of its sponsorship to the Republican Attorneys General Association, and the organization obliged. ". adopted Its hard to bring these cases unless you have evidence disproving that.. The portal will collect contact information of the reporting entity, information about the suspected illegal robocall, and a description of the robocall incident. 47 U.S.C. There should be more transparency on this to protect consumers, he said. The portal will request private entities to submit certain minimum information including, but not necessarily limited to, the name of the reporting private entity, contact information, including at least one individual name and means of contacting the entity ( from 36 agencies. 15. 1503 & 1507. rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred., One of its members, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attended the rally and spoke to the crowd, saying, We will not quit fighting., Following the Capitol invasion, he tweeted, I am sorely disappointed today in the certification of the election, but I dont believe violence is the answer.. Date Blocked March 12, 2022 Call Activity Low Last detected 10 months ago Block this robocall and over 6,210,974 more! This new portal will not affect the process by which a consumer submits an informal complaint about a robocall or spoofed call, using the long-standing process located on the Commission's homepage. About the Federal Register NPRM We agree with Twilio that private entities and consumers should be directed to a centralized reporting mechanism, but we also find that the new portal should be distinct from the existing informal consumer complaint process. No Republican AG authorized the staffs decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the event. P, sec. Those who responded denied their marketing was deceptive and defended their business model and compensation. Start Printed Page 52843 Caller type: Scammer/Fraudster. should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official (k) Perform such other functions as may be assigned or referred to it by the Commission. 9. It was viewed 36 times while on Public Inspection. 24. We also have a process for obtaining information from certain public entities: Federal and state law enforcement agencies routinely coordinate with the Enforcement Bureau about robocall and caller ID spoofing enforcement and mitigation efforts. documents in the last year, 83 documents in the last year, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Accordingly, Gelvan agreed to a permanent ban on raising money for charity in New York in 2004 in a case that accused him of deceptive telemarketing for a state troopers charity, court documents show, and he paid a $50,000 finefor violating that agreement 10 years later. In the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), Congress directed the Commission to establish regulations to create a process that "streamlines the ways in which a private entity may voluntarily share with the Commission information relating to" a call or text message that violates . Bass, who set up several other super PACs, declined to comment. Few other top officers at these fundraising firms and PACS would speak to Reuters on the record. The authority citation for part 0 continues to read as follows: Authority: We enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. James Dellinger, 34, said he and other callers got in the door with a remarkable qualification they were in jail. The portal is available for use by private entities that wish to submit information about suspected robocall or spoofing violations. We do not support any similar activities now, and will not in the future., A Microsoft spokesperson said: We condemn the actions taken by the RLDF and are raising our concerns directly with RAGA. We define private entity as any entity other than (1) an individual natural person or (2) a public entity. Reuters gains rare access into the world of fundraising for these charitable-sounding political action committees, a tiny but profitable niche in the U.S. telemarketing industry. the current document as it appeared on Public Inspection on The call center in Sylacauga, visited by Reuters last year, was operated by Las Vegas-based TPFE Inc, a firm controlled by Zeitlin. We had no knowledge of RAGAs association with the Rule of Law fund or any connection in the January 6 insurrectionists storm on the U.S. Capitol, spokesperson Brandon Scott said in a statement. Furthermore, we agree with commenters that the Bureau should protect the confidentiality of information submitted through the portal, especially because the data may include personally identifiable information or customer proprietary network information. corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. Fundraisers are seeing this is just another easy way to make a buck.. Together Politicause and Pledge Assistance earned close to $20 million between January 2017 through mid-2019 raising money for PACS, campaign finance records show. In Montgomery County, Maryland, the consumer protection office recently won a settlement against a super PAC called Heroes United, run by Zachary Bass of Baltimore. To the extent allowed by the Privacy Act of 1974 and our rules, the portal will clearly state that the Bureau may share submitted information with the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, other federal agencies combatting robocalls, state attorney general offices, other law enforcement entities with which the Commission has information sharing agreements, and the registered traceback consortium. Although the portal will not reject submissions that fail to include the above information, such failure will make it more difficult for the Bureau to investigate fully and take appropriate enforcement action. In return for tax-exempt status, charities generally must register with states, disclose their key employees and account for how the money is spent in some cases by providing audited financial statements. One FAQ, given to callers at Politicause and reviewed by Reuters, shaped the fundraising pitch for asuper PAC called the American Coalition for Injured Veterans. 47 U.S.C. You are not lying, but you are being extremely misleading, said Jason Jones, 24, a former employee at Politicause. Black's Law Dictionary defines entity as [a]n organization (such as a business or a governmental unit) that has a legal identity apart from its members or owners. Second, we find that, as a policy matter, we should exclude individuals from the definition of private entity as the term is used in section 10(a) of the TRACED Act. It is further ordered 03/03/2023, 266 Two of the fundraising companies identified by Reuters employed jail inmates and ex-cons as telemarketers, according to interviews in Alabama with several former employees, as well as court records. We could no longer say, We are helping police officers get body armor, but we could say, We are supporting efforts to get them body armor, said Jackie Armstrong, 32, a former Politicause employee. Reporters visited the center last summer, though it has since closed. Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format, etc.) It wouldve been nice to know that my money was going to a PAC, not a charity, and that it wasnt going to actually help police and firefighters directly.. We recognize that consumers might mistakenly file complaints through the new streamlined process rather than the existing consumer complaint process. The FTCs response to complaints is not noted in the records.. This is John calling from the committee. [FR Doc. 3274, this Report and Order, is hereby We kind of all understood what we were doing was wrong, but I needed a place to live.. Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises area residents to be cautious of phone calls or mailers soliciting donations to the National Police Support Fund, an organization that describes itself as a. NPRM, It is further ordered OMB, the general public, and other Federal agencies will be invited to comment on the new or modified information collection requirements contained in this proceeding. Callers told Reuters they easily made the switch, working in the same buildings, for the same bosses, using similar scripts. Baker said his employees never try to dupe donors and that he cant control what his clients, the PACs, do with the money he raises. Scam PACs tend to slip through gaps among agencies that govern elections, charities and telemarketing, regulators say, leaving consumers exposed to misleading or fraudulent pitches. IE 11 is not supported. But because that suggested donors were contributing directly to purchasing new gear, the callers said they were told by managers to adjust their language. In addition, it serves as a valuable clearinghouse for the Commission to identify trends and activities that are negatively affecting consumers. 227(b). These so-called scam PACs and their fundraisers exploit the gray zone between U.S. election finance and state charity fundraising laws, regulators told Reuters. documents in the last year, 122 Use our visualizations to explore scam and fraud trends in your state based on reports from consumers like you. March 24, 2017 Aside from the lions share that went to for-profit fundraisers, many of the PAC operators took a slice for salaries and overhead. on Jul 10, 2020, 08:10 ET. Most were super PACs, but several were traditional political action committees, which have contribution limits. 801(a)(1)(A). They are looking for naturals, said Jones, adding that good performers could take home $1,000 to $1,500 a week. Federal Register. Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official Another enforcement action relied extensively on information from an industry group, the USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group (Traceback Group). information to inform Commission consumer protection policies as well as for analytical and consumer education purposes. i.e., Learn more about your rights as a consumer and how to spot and avoid scams. Neither he nor other officials at his company returned requests for comment. provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts. Good evening this is Mike Stevens calling for the Committee for police officers defense this calls recorded for quality assurance Ok Hello hello. on The "Committee for Police Officer's Defense" (CPOD) was configured in order to complete an intrinsic goal. documents in the last year, by the Energy Department a copy of this Report and Order Rulemaking, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. These markup elements allow the user to see how the document follows the Instead, the bulk of the money is kept by fundraising firms or the people running the PACs. Demonstrators attempt to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Commenters raise concerns that the new streamlined portal will create consumer confusion or duplicate current processes. This site displays a prototype of a Web 2.0 version of the daily Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status. A 5 On Your Side viewer got one of those calls recently, asking him to support the National. For example, in two enforcement actions, a medical paging company was a key source; it informed the Bureau that the paging company's phone lines were being bombarded by spoofed robocalls. If youre a PAC, and youre raising money for one purpose and doing something else, thats fraud, said Elizabeth Grant, who oversees the Oregon Department of Justice Charities unit. Black's Law Dictionary defines public entity as a governmental entity, such as a state government or one of its political subdivisions. At least one statute, the Americans with Disabilities Act, defines public entity as any state or local government and any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or States or local government.. To achieve this objective, we direct the Enforcement Bureau to create and monitor an online portal located on the Commission First, we find that there is value in maintaining the separate informal consumer complaint process. Those two fundraising firms, whose ownership is not clear, dissolved Pledge Assistance in July 2018 and Politicause in June 2019, according to Wyoming records. (269) 257-6522 is a Fake Police Charity Robocall Do not answer. In addition, we note that pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, we previously sought specific comment on how the Commission might further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 30 days after publication in the Section 227(e) prohibits unlawful spoofingthe transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. The call centers in Alabama, along with others in Nevada, New Jersey, and Florida, raise money on behalf of scam PACs, slang among criticsfor political action committees that purport to support worthy causes but in reality hand over little of the money for political or charitable purposes. But she said the panel has been paralyzed by partisan divisions and, more recently, a lack of a quorum. Though scam PACS have no standard definition and cant be definitively counted, a review of Federal Election Commission records suggests they account for a sliver of the some 6,800 PACs in the country. ThePAC, organized by Zachary Bass, spent 90% of its take on fundraising, campaign filings show. Some fundraisers work in both worlds, raising money for charities andPACs. Start Printed Page 52842 documents in the last year, 20 Like many such telemarketing centers tucked away in strip malls or office parks, it offered no clues to what went on inside. 804(2). Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format. They often are set up as super PACs, groups which in recent years have been empowered by the courts to raise and spend money in unlimited amounts, with little regulation. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. documents in the last year, 940 On September 1, 2009, new FTC rules went into effect prohibiting most prerecorded telemarketing calls, commonly known as robocalls, unless the telemarketer has the consumers prior written authorization to transmit such calls. 17. The data in turn informs the Commission's policy work, serves as a deterrent to companies the Commission regulates and contributes to consumer protection efforts. Everyday our protectors in law . Thats what critics call political action committees that gobble up most of the money they raise rather than using it forthe charitable or other causes they profess to support. We find that adopting a distinct intake process for private entities best satisfies the statutory language, while integrating it with the existing process managed by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will reduce administrative costs and consumer confusion. The Commission's Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) will monitor the portal. Our mission is protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education without unduly burdening legitimate business activity. 22. That goal is to help police officers fight against the continuing "War on Cops" by taking a varied political stance against politicians, activist judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and a host of others who try to bring police officers down by any means. Lisa Cavazuti is an investigative reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit. Congressional Review Act. e.g., . Coffee is for Closers Only, read another. Recording / robocall Comments . 13. Federal Register The purpose of the portal is to provide private entities a streamlined method to submit information to the Bureau about suspected robocall or spoofing violations. The Commission will publish a document in the I dont think you understand how hard it is to fundraise, said Forrest Sandusky Baker IV, a telemarketing professional. e.g., The "Committee for Police Officer's Defense" (CPOD) was configured to help police officers fight against the continuing "War on Cops" by taking a varied political stance against politicians, activist judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and a host of others who try to bring police officers down by any means. documents in the last year, 35 727-335-7484 - Committee For Police Officer's Defense 727-335-7484 Complaint Level Low Medium High 1 User Complaints Caller Name Committee For Police Officer's Defense 1 Caller Type Scammer/Fraudster 1 File a Complaint Owner Info for 727-335-7484 User Complaints for (727) 335-7484 Caller name: Committee for Police Officer's Defense FAIRFAX, Va., July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Committee for Police Officers' Defense, the political arm of Police Officers' Defense Coalition, recently launched a . You are not lying, but you are being extremely misleading. Learn more here. ), send an email to A website set up to promote the rally that preceded the Capitol incursion lists the Rule of Law Defense Fund as one of the participating organizations. The Police Officers' Defense Coalition was developed in consort with the Committee for Police Officers' Defense in order to help police officers, public safety officers, sheriffs, and all those who represent the law enforcement community fight against the "War on C ops". 727-351-8757 "Committee for Police Officer Defense" illegal-telemarketing, likely a SCAM- this guy will call you daily, weekends, nights too, over and over from ever changing different numbers & using different fund names. Efforts to pass anti-robocall legislation have stalled for years, but the agreement announced Friday increases the odds that Congress will send the White House a bill before 2020. , pursuant to sections 4(i), 4(j), and 227 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. When she later realized it was a PAC telemarketer, she felt exploited. In recent years, some telemarketers have used technology to bombard consumers with hundreds of millions of prerecorded calls that are often unwanted and frequently deceptive. If new workers werent making sales, they were quickly fired. documents in the last year, 36 shall send documents in the last year, 822 Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. by the Foreign Assets Control Office better and aid in comparing the online edition to the print edition. For further information, contact Daniel Stepanicich, Attorney, Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau, at (202) 418-7451 or on FederalRegister.gov Paxtons office did not respond to a request for comment. Memo from Chair Lina M. Khan to commission staff and commissioners regarding the vision and priorities for the FTC. Neither Zeitlin nor his attorney would comment on the FTC lawsuit. Bass set up five super PACs allegedly dedicated to a range of causes including veterans and firefighters. documents in the last year, 981 fcc504@fcc.gov The Commission directs the Enforcement Bureau to announce the effective date for those information collections in a document published in the (Super PACs are a type of political action committee that faces no limits on spending or contributions, by virtue of court decisions a decade ago.). The Federal Election Commission has jurisdiction over political spending but neither the agency nor Congress has acted on recommendations in 2016 by some of its own members to strengthen fraud protections and disclosure requirements as part of campaign law. website. The site has since been taken down. 14. In a small Alabama town at the edge of the Talladega National Forest, next to a Chinese restaurant, stands a shop with mirrored windows and no signs. The calls, which often target elderly donors, come from a variety of generic and similar-sounding aliases: The Police Officers Support Association, the National Emergency Responders Coalition and. At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal, said the voice on the recording, which was obtained by NBC News. All told, the PACs took in $83.1 million during the 2 year period examined by Reuters, about 82% of which went to the eight fundraising companies, according to the campaign disclosures required by the FEC. 03/03/2023, 43 Scam PAC telemarketers who use aggressive tactics in the charity realm also face less risk of scrutiny or sanction when they turn to PAC fundraising, regulators and former callers said. That could punish well-intentioned organizations, he said. 21. POLICE OFFICERS DEFENSE ALLIANCE PAC. Authority delegations (Government agencies). shall be effective All said they thought they were giving to a charity. Interviews and records indicate managers at both firms once worked at a Zeitlin company called Courtesy Call. Box 663 Butler, WI 53007 Visit Website (833) 878-5783 Average of 30. We anticipate that this portal will be particularly useful to private entities experiencing large scale robocall incidents and voice service providers that have network analytic information. 05/04/2018 05:04 AM EDT. 227(e). Legitimate charities can be checked on websites such as www.guidestar.org. Ask if the donation is tax-deductible. Going byvarious names, the fundraising operation has worked for some of the same PACs as Zeitlins firms have and has employed some of the same people, according to internal PAC records, state corporate filings, employee interviews and deposition testimony in a civil case unrelated to this article. 3. I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this weeks rally, said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. Starting with a group of eight fundraising operations that earned at least a half-million dollars each during this period, Reuters traced interconnections among them and 31 PACs. headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. Several told NBC News that spending money on this kind of recruitment for protest runs counter to the purpose of their donation. By Laura Strickler and Lisa Cavazuti. electronic version on GPOs govinfo.gov. When organizations operate as political action committees, however, they are not subject to the laws governing charity fundraising, according to federal and state regulators and telemarketing industry officials. Its infuriating, said Angelides, who learned from Reuters that it was a PAC that got his money. Always Be Closing, one poster read. It wasnt easy: The secretive nature of this and other fundraising operations makes them difficult to pin down, he said, and he was able to identify the many players involved only by using subpoena power. The .gov means its official. Zeitlin did not respond to questions about this issue. In interviews, a dozen former employees of Politicause and Zeitlins TPFE described techniques they used to wrangle donations, leaving contributors with the impression they were giving to good causes. None of the three managers Reuters was able to identify could be reached for comment. 20-374, FCC-21-75, adopted and released on June 17, 2021. This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the documents in the last year, 282 CTIA, SAFE Credit Union (SAFE), Twilio, Inc., and USTelecom-The Broadband Association (USTelecom) filed comments. Its supporters also include interest groups such as the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was its top donor in 2020 with a $750,000 contribution. Federal Register provide legal notice to the public and judicial notice and services, go to The authority citation for part 64 continues to read as follows: Authority: We were good at slick-talking these people, said Dellinger, who court records show has been convicted of felonies including the truck theft and other burglary charges. Private entities and consumers who wish to submit information or complaints about robocalls will be directed on the FCC website to the appropriate intake process for their situationthe new portal for private entities or the existing informal consumer complaint process for consumers. 03/03/2023, 1465 The Republican Attorneys General Association raised more than $18 million in 2020 from several top corporations, including Pepsi, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News. Instead, the new portal will be integrated with, but distinct from, the existing consumer complaint process. the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with First, we find that interpreting the term to exclude individual consumers from the definition of private entity is consistent with Congress's other uses of that term and similar terms. The fundraising operation used corporate names including Charity Promotions, from 2013 to 2016, and Charity Appeal, from 2016 to 2018, according to several ex-employee interviews and state filings.