Last month the FCC fined voice service provider Lingo Telecom 1 million dollars for transmitting spoofed robocalls that used generative AI voice cloning technology. According to the Commission, the intent was to spread disinformation in regards to the 2024 New Hampshire primary election.

The Scam

Before the New Hampshire 2024 presidential primary, spoofed robocalls carried a fake audio recording of President Biden’s cloned voice telling people not to vote in the upcoming primary. This messaging was transmitted through Lingo Telecom’s network.

In addition to the million-dollar fine, the FCC is mandating that the company thoroughly verify the accuracy of the information provided by its customers and upstream providers.

Lessons Learned

Rural providers could become targets of unscrupulous enterprises posing as new business voice customers who would then use your networks to transmit these illegal calls, and as in the case of Lingo be subject to fines and other punishments. Thoroughly vetting new business voice customers is going to be essential moving forward.

The best way to protect customer landlines is with APMax TCM which detects spoofed calls and is a consumer gatekeeper that provides a challenge message to out-of-area calls. The automated robocalls are unable to respond to the prompt, causing the call to drop without the customer’s phone ringing. A whitelisting feature allows friendly numbers to complete calls without a challenge.