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TOPLINE A pair of conservative activists known for putting forward conspiracy theories ahead of the 2020 election have agreed to pay up to $1.25 million over a robocall campaign that New York Attorney General Letitia James said was meant to deter Black voters from voting by mail in the 2020 election. James sued Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman over the robocall campaign in 2021, and in 2023, a New York judge issued a 111-page ruling finding them liable for violating federal and state law by setting into motion “a full-scale voter suppression operation” in 2020. Under the settlement announced Tuesday,...

US base in Syria at Conoco oil field attacked... Sometimes violent protests in Buenos Aires this evening following...passage of Argentine President Javier Milei's "Omnibus Bill"... A shakeup at the Turkish central bank. Central Bank Chief Hafize Gaye Erkan...abruptly resigning tonight... Russia's RIA Novosti News Agency reporting...British government...asking other NATO countries about participating in a military force in Ukraine... The trial of President Donald Trump on charges...January 6th postponed indefinitely... US airstrikes launched against Middle East targets tonight following the deadly attack on a US base... Wisconsin's Supreme Court ruling unanimously to put Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips on the April 2nd...

SNIPWhile the number of votes swayed by the leaked audio remains uncertain, two things are now abundantly clear: The recordings were fake, created using artificial intelligence; and US officials see the episode in Europe as a frightening harbinger of the sort of interference the United States will likely experience during the 2024 presidential election.“As a nation, we are woefully underprepared,” said V.S. Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University professor who focuses on the intersection of AI and security.Senior national security officials in the US have been gearing up for “deepfakes” to inject confusion among voters in a way not previously seen, a...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking action to crack down on robocalls that use artificial intelligence-generated voices after a fake voice that sounded like President Biden was used in calls to voters ahead of the New Hampshire primary election. The federal agency on Wednesday issued a proposal to officially recognize AI-generated voices as "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which would make it illegal to utilize voice-cloning technology in calls to consumers. "No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we...

US regulators on Tuesday announced a nationwide crackdown to stop companies from inundating people with billions of unwanted and illegal robocalls and telemarketing calls. The crackdown, known as Operation Stop Scam Calls, involves the Federal Trade Commission and 101 other federal and state law enforcement authorities, including the attorneys general of all 50 states and Washington, DC. More than 180 enforcement actions and initiatives are part of the initiative, including five that the FTC formally announced on Tuesday. “We don’t know too many people out there who enjoy getting scam calls,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC consumer protection bureau,...

Yesterday I broke the current household record for war dialer phone scammer calls at 61, the previous record was Thanksgiving Day 2022 with 60. All of these calls are using forged caller IDs and basically unblockable because the numbers change every call. While I originally just ignored them, I went through the usual Lenny Bruce phases of coping, from talking to the callers (almost exclusively from India but with names like George, Ralph, Gladys and Candi) to pretending I myself was Indian or Chinese, to telling them I was going to give their call history to IBI. All that happened...

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed what would be its largest fine ever - just under $300 million - against the biggest robocall company that it's ever investigated. The company made a staggering 5 billion scam calls over the course of three months last year, which the agency notes is enough to 'have called each person in the United States 15 times.' Since the robocallers met the definition for 'egregious violations,' the FCC decided to impose its largest fine ever: $299,997,000. Consumers were subjected to relentless calls that often began with something like: 'We've been trying to reach you concerning...

I recently discontinued cable TV, which also provided phone service. I decided to get a wireline service, mostly because it works when the power goes off. Problem: 99% of the calls are robocalls. I looked into how to stop this, which (according to the internet) is expensive, difficult, and something about which the FCC and the rest of the State is powerless. This seems absurd to me. Why can't this practice be outlawed, and its practitioners be executed?

In context: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted several companies to stop doing business with Russia. Western nations have also hit the superpower with crippling sanctions. Even hackers have jumped into the fray with DDoS attacks on government websites. A hacktivist group calling itself Obfuscated Dreams of Scheherazade has created a bot that sets up a conference call between multiple government entities, causing each to think the other one made the call. The stated purpose is to waste the government's time and tie up the phone lines. The automated spam calls go on non-stop during Russian operating hours.On Wednesday,...

It is unclear who paid for the attacks in the race which features 23 candidatesA mysterious robocall targeted the widow of the late Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas with what her allies are calling a "criminal smear," accusing her of murdering her husband and claiming her campaign for Congress is a cover-up. Susan Wright is a candidate in the special election for Texas’ 6th Congressional District, where she is the frontrunner to replace her late husband. Her campaign learned of the robocalls accusing her of killing her spouse on Friday, one day before the primary election. The late congressman died in...

Any other Pennsylvania residents getting deluged with Robocalls urging me to request my mail-in ballot? I have gotten 3 just today. Always rotating to different PA area codes. Full-court press to steal PA is apparently underway.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 1991 law that bars robocalls to cellphones. The case, argued by telephone in May because of the coronavirus pandemic, only arose after Congress in 2015 created an exception in the law that allowed the automated calls for collection of government debt. Political consultants and pollsters were among those who asked the Supreme Court to strike down the entire 1991 law that bars them from making robocalls to cellphones as a violation of their free speech rights under the Constitution. The issue was whether, by allowing one kind of speech but not others, the...

A man who telecom regulators say was apparently behind a barrage of racist robocalls in six states — sowing hate in response to the killing of an Iowa college student by an undocumented immigrant and a white supremacist’s murder trial in Virginia — is facing a proposed fine of nearly $13 million by the Federal Communications Commission. The man, Scott D. Rhodes, who anti-hate groups say is a white supremacist and runs the website Road to Power, was “apparently” responsible for more than 6,000 robocalls in 2018 “with the intent to cause harm,” the F.C.C. said on Thursday. The commission...

On Monday, December 30, 2019, the President signed into law: H.R. 150, the “Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act of 2019 or the GREAT Act,” which requires the Office of Management and Budget, jointly with the executive department that administers the most programs issuing Federal awards each year, to establish government-wide data standards for information reported by grant recipients and issue guidance directing Federal agencies to apply those standards; H.R. 777, the “Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2019,” which authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for each of Fiscal Years 2019-2024 in the amount of $151 million for...

The House on Wednesday took a major step toward cracking down on illegal robocalls by passing legislation allowing for tougher penalties against the scammers who generate billions of unwanted calls each year. Lawmakers passed the measure, sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), in a 429-3 vote. The bill takes aim at illegal spam calls by toughening up the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ability to take action against illegal robocalling operations and requiring all carriers to implement technology to make sure calls are authentic. "The rising tide of unlawful, unwanted robocalls started as a nuisance but...

The Senate on Thursday voted in favor of legislation that would levy hefty new fines for illegal robocalls, advancing one of the most prominent congressional efforts to crack down on the scourge of billions of unwanted calls that aggravate U.S. consumers every year. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, which passed by a 97-1 vote, had received more than 80 co-sponsors by the time it reached the Senate floor. The bill, introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would give the federal government the authority to slap offenders with fines of up to...

The ruling could give carriers legal protections in blocking spam calls. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been fighting robocalls for years, but as anyone with a cell phone can tell you, they're still getting through. Now, the Commission wants to make it legal for phone companies to block unwanted robocalls by default. Chairman Anji Pai has circulated a declaratory ruling that, if adopted, would give carriers permission to develop new call blocking tools. The ruling could also allow consumers to prohibit calls from numbers that aren't on their contact lists. The proposed change targets spam robocalls that hijack legitimate,...

As robocall numbers continue to skyrocket, the FCC is fighting back, proposing new ways for phone companies to crack down on unwanted calls. NBC’s Tom Costello takes a look at a new tool that can hopefully keep your phone from ringing. Click here to watch the video report

A new standard, called Stir/Shaken, could come to your mobile provider by the end of the year. But there are already ways around it. Anthony Marino set his mobile phone to “Do Not Disturb” before going to bed, but he sensed it flicker in the dark. The next morning, he saw he had missed roughly 30 calls: at 4:15 a.m., 4:34, 4:45, 5:08 and 5:12, and for two hours after that. Most appeared as “Lithuania” on his caller ID, although they could have come from anywhere. “I hate to say it, but I don’t pick up the phone anymore, which...

A Senate panel on Wednesday advanced legislation that would levy a hefty fine on illegal robocalls, the latest congressional effort to crack down on the billions of unwanted calls that irritate U.S. consumers every year. Lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee approved the bill in 26-0 vote. The measure's co-sponsors include Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who is running for president, and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who chairs the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would give the federal government the authority...