By Mark Frauenfelder 

Attorneys general in 48 US states are suing Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky and company vice president Stacey S. Reeves for making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry, reports AP. The lawsuit alleged that Avid Telecom misused caller ID to make it seem like the calls originated from government and law enforcement agencies.

The lawsuit further alleges that since 2019, Avid Telecom sent 1 million calls to various numbers in the represented states and districts that were unlawful. The plaintiffs argue in the complaint that the calls “included Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, and credit card interest rate reduction scams.” The complaint also claims that Avid Telecom illegally spoofed government agency caller IDs—including agencies like Homeland Security, the FBI, and the US Postal Service—in 8.4 million calls since 2019.

Avid Telecom’s outside counsel told AP, “Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, Avid Telecom operates in a manner that is compliant with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations. The company has never been found by any court or regulatory authority to have transmitted unlawful traffic and it is prepared to meet with the attorneys general, as it has on many occasions in the past, to further demonstrate its good faith and lawful conduct.”