STATEMENT OF
CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re:	In the Matter of Thomas Dorsher; ChariTel Inc; OnTel Inc; and ScammerBlaster Inc, Forfeiture Order, File No. EB-TCD-21-00032187 (September 21, 2023)

The scammers behind robocalls are nothing if not persistent.  But so is the Federal Communications Commission.  We are not going to stop fighting the good fight to block these annoying calls from our phones.  So today, we follow through on an investigation and finalize a $116 million fine against a company whose scheme was to make money off of phony toll free calls.  In total, we have referred over $500 million in robocall fines to the Department of Justice for collection this year.
This week we also put providers on notice to block traffic from another offender if it fails to clean up its act—this time it is One Owl, a company that had previously popped up on our radar enabling illegal robocall traffic under the name One Eye.  We know how this game works.  The bad actors behind these scams know when we’re on to them, like when we told providers to block One Eye’s illegal traffic in May, so they set up a new entity under a new name.  But we are finding new ways to stay on their trail and this notice is evidence of just that.  
In addition, this week we brought on another ally in this fight.  The Rhode Island Attorney General signed a Memorandum of Understanding with us to share resources to combat illegal robocalls.  That means 47 state attorneys general are now working with us to stop junk calls.  This is progress.  
But for us to keep at it we will need some updates to the law.  First, the fine we issue today we will hand over to our colleagues at the Department of Justice.  But to hold those who violated our rules accountable I think this agency should have the authority it needs to go to court and collect on our own.  Second, in a recent decision, the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of “autodialer” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, making it easier for bad actors to evade consequences under the law.  This needs a fix.
Back to what we have done today.  I want to thank the Robocall Response Team and staff responsible for this action, including Daniel Stepanicich, Jane van Benten, Alex Hobbs, Kristi Thompson, Victoria Randazzo, Rakesh Patel, and Loyaan Egal from the Enforcement Bureau; Kristi Thornton and Mark Stone from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; Elizabeth Drogula, Zachary Ross, Jonathan Lechter, Erik Raven-Hansen, and David Zesiger from the Wireline Competition Bureau; Chin Yoo, Valerie Hill, Richard Mallen, and Anjali Singh from the Office of General Counsel; and Michelle Schaefer, Ed Cureg, and Kenneth Lynch from the Office of Economics and Analytics.