Florida Telemarketer Settles FTC Charges It Made Millions of Illegal Robocalls

An Orlando-based telemarketer selling vacation packages agreed to settle government allegations it made millions of illegal robocalls, including to those on the National Do Not Call Registry, the FTC said in a news release Thursday. The commission voted 4-0 to authorize staff to refer the complaint to DOJ and approve the proposed $1.2 million civil penalty against Lilly Management and Marketing and its owner, Kevin Lawrence, the release said. But the FTC said the defendants will pay only $19,000 due to their inability to pay the full amount, unless they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition and then they will have to pay the entire penalty. The FTC alleged Lawrence and his firm bought leads, or lists of consumers' phone numbers, from third parties and then used automated dialing machines, "placing millions of calls that played pre-recorded messages." Each call cost less than a cent to make, the release noted. The commission's proposed order "permanently bans" Lawrence and his firm from robocalling consumers and those on the national registry, helping others make such calls or doing business with anyone making such calls. DOJ filed the complaint and proposed order in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, FTC said. A message left on a phone number associated with the telemarketer wasn't returned.