5,187,677,000 calls in three months, and a $300m fine
In December 2022 the FCC proposed a $299,997,000 penalty — the largest in its history — against the auto warranty robocall operation, having found it placed approximately 5.19 billion calls to over 550 million phones in three months using more than a million spoofed caller IDs. Enough to have called every person in America fifteen times.
- Year
- 2022
- Where
- United States, PA, HU
- Outcome
- Sanctioned
- Reported loss
- $300.0 million
- Victims
- 550,138,650
- Schemes
- Auto warranty robocalls, Phishing and smishing
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-06
The facts, as recorded
- The FCC proposed the $299,997,000 fine on 21 December 2022, the largest such action in its history.
- The Enforcement Bureau found the operation apparently placed approximately 5,187,677,000 calls to 550,138,650 wireless and residential phones from January to March 2021.
- It used 1,051,461 unique caller ID numbers — enough calls to have contacted every person in the United States 15 times in three months.
- The scheme sold vehicle service contracts that were deceptively marketed as car warranties, and had run since at least 2018.
- Calls used "neighbor spoofing" to make the caller ID appear local to American consumers.
- The operation called health care workers during a pandemic and spoofed the phone numbers of hospitals, so confused consumers rang the hospitals to complain and tied up the phone lines of public safety institutions.
- Cox and Jones were already prohibited from making telemarketing calls under earlier Federal Trade Commission actions.
- Ten entities were named: Sumco Panama SA, Sumco Panama USA, Virtual Telecom kft, Virtual Telecom Inc., Davis Telecom Inc., Geist Telecom LLC, Fugle Telecom LLC, Tech Direct LLC, Mobi Telecom LLC and Posting Express Inc.
- A Notice of Apparent Liability contains only allegations; neither the allegations nor the proposed sanctions are final.
Why this case matters
Read the number slowly. 5,187,677,000 calls, to 550,138,650 phones, in three months.
The FCC’s own framing is the clearest: enough calls to have contacted every person in the United States fifteen times during that quarter alone.
What made it “egregious”
The FCC escalated the penalty because the operation met its criteria for egregious violations, and the reasons are worth setting out because they go beyond nuisance.
1,051,461 unique caller ID numbers. Not a few spoofed lines — over a million, which is what defeats every consumer-side blocking tool. You cannot block your way out of a million numbers.
Neighbor spoofing. Caller IDs were made to appear local to the recipient, because a number sharing your area code and prefix is far more likely to be answered.
Hospital numbers, during a pandemic. The operation called health care workers and spoofed the phone numbers of hospitals — so people who rang back to complain rang the hospitals, tying up the phone lines of public safety institutions. That is the detail that turns a nuisance into a public safety matter.
And they were already banned. Cox and Jones were prohibited from making telemarketing calls under earlier FTC actions. The robocalls continued anyway, which says something plain about what an administrative prohibition is worth against an operation running from Panama and Hungary.
Ten entities
Sumco Panama SA. Sumco Panama USA. Virtual Telecom kft. Virtual Telecom Inc. Davis Telecom Inc. Geist Telecom LLC. Fugle Telecom LLC. Tech Direct LLC. Mobi Telecom LLC. Posting Express Inc.
The same structure as every scheme on this site — a chain of neutral-sounding entities across several jurisdictions, so that no single company failing ends anything.
What the product actually was
Not warranties. Vehicle service contracts, deceptively marketed as car warranties.
That distinction is the fraud in miniature. A manufacturer’s warranty is included with a car; a vehicle service contract is a separate product sold by a third party, with exclusions, and is worth what its terms say. Calling it a warranty, and implying the existing one is expiring, is what converts a legitimate product category into a deception.
The caveat
A Notice of Apparent Liability contains only allegations. Neither the allegations nor the proposed sanctions in it are final, and the Commission may not impose more than the amount proposed.
Sources
- FCC Proposes Largest Fine Ever Against Auto Warranty Scam Robocaller. US Federal Communications Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The 21 December 2022 proposal, the $299,997,000 amount, the call and phone counts and period, the 1,051,461 caller IDs, the neighbor spoofing, the hospital spoofing, the prior FTC prohibition, the ten named entities and the allegation language.
- FCC Authorizes Phone Companies to Cut Off Likely Auto Warranty Scam Robocall Campaign. US Federal Communications Commission. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The July 2022 enforcement actions that preceded the fine and the eight billion call estimate.