Additional Information for Hello Hello Miami, LLC

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. HELLO HELLO MIAMI, LLC, and LUIS E. LEON AMARIS, Case number 1:23-CV-22553 SD Fla

As of December 22, 2023

A Default Judgment and Permanent Injunction has been issued in this case which states:

IT IS ORDERED that Defendants, whether acting directly or indirectly, are permanently restrained and enjoined from Assisting or providing substantial assistance or support to any Person that Defendants know, or should know, is engaged in initiating, causing the initiation of, or transmitting Telemarketing calls that (1) deliver prerecorded messages, (2) are placed to numbers on the DNC Registry; or (3) impersonate another Person

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants, their agents, employees, and all other Persons in active concert or participation with any of them, who receive actual notice of this Order, whether acting directly or indirectly, in connection with Telemarketing, are permanently restrained and enjoined from engaging in, causing others to engage in, or Assisting others engaging in violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule, l6 C.F.R. Part 310.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants, their agents, employees, and all other Persons in active concert or participation with any of them, who receive actual notice of this Order, whether acting directly or indirectly, are permanently restrained and enjoined from providing VoIP telephony services or telephone numbers to any new or prospective customer, without first engaging in a reasonable screening of that customer.

Defendants must immediately terminate, or refrain from entering into, any business relationship with a customer if a review under Section III reveals that:
1. The customer is engaging in Telemarketing without a Subscription Account Number for accessing the DNC Registry;
2. The customer is offering VoIP telephony services, the resale or licensing of telephone numbers, or any other telecommunications or information services, without a current, valid Universal Service Fund registration number;
3. The customer states it does not have a taxpayer ID number;
4. The customer has provided false, inaccurate, or misleading information in response to Defendants’ screening process pursuant to Section III; or
5. The customer refuses to provide any of the information described in Section III.
B. Defendants must also immediately terminate, or refrain from entering into, any business relationship with a customer if Defendants become aware of or obtain any information suggesting that the customer is engaging in conduct prohibited in Sections I or II of this Order

Judgment in the amount of $211,275.69 is entered in favor of the Plaintiff against Luis Leon and Hello Hello Miami, jointly and severally, as a civil penalty.

--------------------------------------

As of July 18, 2023

FTC, Law Enforcers Nationwide Announce Enforcement Sweep to Stem the Tide of Illegal Telemarketing Calls to U.S. Consumers.

New actions target those who distributed or facilitated billions of illegal calls and sold more than 700 million telemarketing leads.

The Federal Trade Commission and more than 100 federal and state law enforcement partners nationwide, including the attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, announced a new crackdown on illegal telemarketing calls involving more than 180 actions targeting operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers.

The joint federal and state initiative, “Operation Stop Scam Calls,” is part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to combat the scourge of illegal telemarketing, including robocalls. The initiative not only targets telemarketers and the companies that hire them but also takes action against lead generators who deceptively collect and provide consumers’ telephone numbers to robocallers and others, falsely representing that these consumers have consented to receive calls. The effort also targets Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers who facilitate illegal robocalls every year, which often originate overseas.

Operation Stop Scam Calls includes five new cases from the FTC against companies and individuals responsible for distributing or assisting the distribution of illegal telemarketing calls to consumers nationwide. Today’s actions make clear that third-party lead generation for robocalls is illegal under the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and that the FTC and its partners are committed to stopping illegal calls by targeting anyone in the telemarketing ecosystem that assists and facilitates these calls, including VoIP service providers.

The FTC’s complaint against Miami, Florida-based Hello Hello Miami (HHM) and Luis E. Leon Amaris alleges that the defendants assisted and facilitated the transmission of approximately 37.8 million illegal robocalls by providing VoIP services to more than 11 foreign telemarketers. HHM and Amaris operate a “point of entry” or “gateway” VoIP service provider—the entry point for foreign calls into the United States.

According to the complaint, the overseas robocallers used HHM’s VoIP services to bombard consumers with tens of millions of illegal calls using pre-recorded messages impersonating Amazon.com. In its complaint, the FTC is seeking to permanently bar HHM and Amaris from assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing robocallers and monetary relief for defrauded consumers, as well as civil penalties.

Contact for Consumers
Consumer Response Center
877-382-4357
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

LINK: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/07/ftc-law-enforcers-nationwide-announce-enforcement-sweep-stem-tide-illegal-telemarketing-calls-us