Feds Seek $225M Fine for Pair Who Made a Billion Robocalls

The U.S. communications regulator on Tuesday proposed a $225 million fine, its largest ever, against two health insurance telemarketers for spamming people with 1 billion robocalls using fake phone numbers.

The Federal Communications Commission said two men in Texas, through their companies, made the calls that purported to sell products from major insurers but actually worked on behalf of other companies.

State attorneys general of Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas also sued the two men and their companies in federal court in Texas for violating the federal law governing telemarketing, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.