Aloha State News

HONOLULU – Attorney General Holly T. Shikada announced the national Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force is enforcing investigations into two voice service providers over alleged involvement in illegal robocalls.

The targets of the investigation are Michael Lansky LLC — doing business as Avid Telecom — and One Eye LLC. The national task force is enforcing civil investigative demands (CIDs) against each entity.

Fifty-one attorneys general participate in the national task force, which Indiana co-leads with North Carolina and Ohio.

“Robocalls continue to be one of the most prevalent forms of illegal scams directed at Hawaii residents,” said Attorney General Shikada.  “The work of the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force is crucial in identifying and investigating those responsible for the bulk of illegal robocall traffic in this country so that efforts can be made to reduce these illegal and harmful activities.”

The enforcement action against Avid Telecom details several instances in which the task force believes Avid Telecom knowingly accepted and routed illegal robocalls. Further, the task force believes Avid Telecom’s CEO, Michael Lansky, helped another telecom provider hide its suspect traffic.

The enforcement action against One Eye details how an individual named Prince Anand closed another voice service provider, PZ Telecommunication LLC, and became the apparent CEO of One Eye. This transition occurred after the Federal Communications Commission sent PZ Telecom a cease-and-desist letter.

One Eye has stopped responding to the task force, and Avid has refused to answer the CID. The State of Indiana has moved to enforce these CIDs in Marion County.

The task force, through evidence detailed in the enforcement actions, believes it has a reasonable basis for investigating Avid Telecom and One Eye.

According to the National Consumer Law Center and Electronic Privacy Information Center, more than 33 million scam robocalls are made to Americans every day. These scam calls include fraudsters posing as the Social Security Administration, Amazon and employers offering work opportunities.

Fraudsters stole an estimated $29.8 billion through scam calls in 2021. The task force is focused on shutting down the gateways that profit off this illegal scam traffic.

Attorney General Shikada offers the following tips to avoid scams and unwanted calls:

• Be wary of callers who specifically ask you to pay by gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency. For example, the Internal Revenue Service does not accept iTunes gift cards.
• Look out for prerecorded calls from imposters posing as government agencies. Typically, the Social Security Administration does not make phone calls to individuals.
• If you suspect fraudulent activity, immediately hang up and do not provide any personal information.

Original source can be found here.