A US telemarketer of mortgage loans has been calling people
whose numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, and
doing so without identifying itself, according to the Federal Trade
Commission.
The FTC is seeking civil penalties and an injunction in a New
Jersey district court against the telemarketer for violations of
its Telemarketing Sales Rule in its first case alleging
transmission of false caller ID information.
According to the FTC's complaint, Srikanth Venkataraman,
formerly of New Jersey, has been doing business as Scorpio Systems,
Ltd., selling mortgage loans, refinancing, and other products and
services. Scorpio allegedly called numbers on the Do Not Call
Registry, failed to transmit its telephone number and name to
consumers’ caller identification service, and failed to pay the fee
required to access the Registry. The telemarketer transmitted
either no caller ID or a phony caller ID and, as a result,
consumers were unable to contact the telemarketer to stop unwanted
telemarketing calls.
