Golden State Today

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a court decision that denies Avid Telecom's attempts to dismiss and delay a bipartisan, 49-state lawsuit. The suit is against the company and its owner, Michael D. Lansky, for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of unlawful robocalls in California and across the nation. The robocalls reportedly included Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, and employment scams.

Forty-nine attorneys general who are also members of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force filed the lawsuit against Avid in May 2023.

“Robocalls recklessly interrupt people’s busy days and cause Californians real financial damage every year,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Avid Telecom was responsible for delivering not hundreds, or thousands, or millions of robocalls — but billions of robocalls, and will now have to take responsibility. My office stands ready to defend Californians against bad actors looking to exploit consumers.”

According to allegations, Avid Telecom sent or attempted to transmit more than 24 billion scam calls over a four-year period about various scams including Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DIRECTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams, and employment scams. Despite being notified at least 329 times that these illegal robocalls were being sent across their networks, they reportedly continued transmitting these calls.

A copy of the order is available here.