We are proud to say its a 90-10 split, Jones recalled saying, leaving out that his company was getting the 90% share. The FTC declined to comment. 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. According to John Riggins,. that the Commission Both Politicause and TPFE had procedures to keep workers with fraud convictions from handling credit card information, former callers said, although Politicause workers said the rules were sometimes relaxed for high performers. documents in the last year, 35 A Rule by the Federal Communications Commission on 09/23/2021. publication in the future. from 36 agencies. At Politicause, for instance, some said they initially were told to say donations would be used to help buy new police and fire equipment. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images. IE 11 is not supported. Even as they charmed millions from credulous donors, a dozen former callers for two major fundraisers told Reuters that they knew their companies would be keeping the vast majority of it. Commenters suggested that the Commission consolidate the new portal and its existing informal consumer complaint process, which the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau administers, or better distinguish the two processes by defining private entity to exclude consumers. 23. Jan. 8, 2021, 5:36 PM PST. I had breast cancer, so they knew how to get me, she said. Eric Friedman, the Montgomery County consumer protection offices director, said he used his countys laws prohibiting deceptive trade practices to win the settlement. legal research should verify their results against an official edition of And while law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, have hit some alleged bad actors withfraud charges, it generally is only when they have tried to conceal where the funds were going, said Adav Noti, a former Federal Election Commission lawyer and now chief of staff at the Washington D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organization of specialists in election law. 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. 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. The full text of this document is available for public inspection online at While in the Shelby County Jail on a felony charge of stealing a truck, Dellinger said he began working at a center in suburban Birmingham then known as Charity Promotions as part of his government-sponsored work release program. The FTCs response to complaints is not noted in the records.. For further information, contact Daniel Stepanicich, Attorney, Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau, at (202) 418-7451 or The Commission has a well-established process for individual consumers to submit complaints about unwanted and suspected illegal robocalls and spoofed calls: The Commission's informal consumer complaint process, which the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau oversees. This prototype edition of the She said she would like to see the panel mandate more disclosure to donors about how much of their money is going to fundraisers, as well as stronger fraud protections in federal campaign law. Most of the guys that are real good are felons., Regulators responsible for protecting U.S. consumers from potentially unscrupulous fundraisers face a bedeviling new challenge: the scam PAC.. on NARA's archives.gov. Through interviews with the former callers and donors, reviews of call scripts and visits to threecall centers in Alabama, Reuters has obtained rare access into the world of these for-profit fundraisers, a tiny but lucrative niche of the multi-billion-dollar U.S. telemarketing industry. Use of the portal is completely voluntary and we impose no new requirements on small businesses. P, sec. This robocall tip line will provide a streamlined process for reporting potential violations, and will enable the Enforcement Bureau to respond quickly to disruptive robocalling events. We agree with commenters that including individuals within the definition of private entity would undermine the intent of the statute to streamline information collection about robocalls and spoofed calls, and would create confusion for consumers about whether to use the existing informal complaint process or the new portal, or both. In the 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. Several told NBC News that spending money on this kind of recruitment for protest runs counter to the purpose of their donation. Private entity submissions of robocall violations. documents in the last year, by the Energy Department The fundraisers later went to work for PACs under the names Politicause and Pledge Assistance, both registered in Wyoming, which requires little disclosure from corporations. The authority citation for part 64 continues to read as follows: Authority: In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission sued Zeitlin for allegedly deceptive practices in charity fundraising, but the case has been suspended because a grand jury was investigating, according to court documents. 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. 16. 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 prohibitions regarding robocalls or spoofing set forth section 227(b) and 227(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Reporters visited the center last summer, though it has since closed. documents in the last year, 663 Some of the most aggressive actions against allegedly deceptive PACs and their fundraisers have come from state or local law enforcement officials. 1. It is further ordered Learn more here. 20-374, FCC-21-75, adopted and released on June 17, 2021. The calls always seem to come when you least expect it. Federal election laws were designed to prevent corruption, he said, not to protect consumers.. Private entity submissions of spoofing violations. We acknowledge commenters' concerns that, at least initially, private entities might be confused about whether the consumer complaint process or the new streamlined process is a more appropriate place to submit information. Pitches at Politicause and TPFE were adapted to avoid allegations of fraud, former callers said, noting that the conversations were occasionally monitored by company compliance officers. We adopt rules to establish an online web portal where private entities may submit information about suspected violations of sections 227(b) and 227(e). are amended For further information, contact Daniel Stepanicich, Attorney, Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau, at (202) 418-7451 or Add 64.1204 to subpart L to read as follows: (a) Any private entity may submit to the Enforcement Bureau information related to a call made or a text message sent that the private entity has reason to believe was in violation of 64.1200(a) or 47 U.S.C. In this document, we have created a new online portal located on the Commission website where private entities, including small businesses, may submit information about robocall or spoofing violations. 22. Robocallers have apparently been using the name of a former Abilene City Councilman/Abilene businessman to try to entice people to give to a fake police charity. Thus, a private entity is only in a position to provide information about calls that it suspects are violations of the law. 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. ". To request this document in accessible formats for people with disabilities ( To achieve this objective, we direct the Enforcement Bureau to create and monitor an online portal located on the Commission as set forth in Appendix A. Its infuriating, said Angelides, who learned from Reuters that it was a PAC that got his money. 12. Our past robocall enforcement actions have relied extensively upon information from private entities. And, as he has been saying since moments after seeing news break, the violence and destruction we saw at the U.S. Capitol is unacceptable and un-American.. Congress did not define private entity in the TRACED Act. 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 Commission directs the Enforcement Bureau to announce the effective date for those information collections in a document published in the 5. If PACs spend nearly all of their money on fundraising and salaries, fundraisers can say they their motives were sincere and it costs money to raise money, he said. on corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. for better understanding how a document is structured but If the potential donors suspected they had given to the group before, the callers were instructed to say: I have no way of knowing because we feel that donations are given from the heart, not the hand, so we keep all donation records confidential, according to the FAQ. A week later, Armstrong said, he was rehired to help raise money for political action committees. documents in the last year, 513 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. Jul 10, 2020, 08:10 ET. The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable The call center in Sylacauga, visited by Reuters last year, was operated by Las Vegas-based TPFE Inc, a firm controlled by Zeitlin. 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.
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