Timely Scam Warning for All Student Loan Borrowers

DA 22-1182

Released: November 10, 2022

ROBOCALL ENFORCEMENT NOTICE TO ALL U.S.-BASED VOICE SERVICE PROVIDERS

FCC Enforcement Bureau Notifies All U.S.-Based Providers They May Block Robocalls Originating From Certain Providers

File No. EB-TCD-22-00034232

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

The Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) issues this Public Notice to notify all U.S.-based voice service providers about substantial amounts of apparently unlawful student loan-related robocalls originating from the Urth Access, LLC (Urth Access). Pursuant to section 64.1200(k)(4) of the Commission’s Rules, we hereby notify all U.S.-based voice service providers that they may block voice calls or cease to accept traffic from certain originating/intermediate providers listed in this Notice, without liability under the Communications Act or the Commission’s rules.

Contemporaneous with this Public Notice, the Bureau is issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the following voice service provider (Originating Provider):

Urth Access, LLC

The USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group (Traceback Consortium) identified Urth Access as the originator for substantial volumes of apparently unlawful student loan-related robocalls. Pursuant to the cease-and-desist letter, Urth Access must (1) immediately investigate and effectively mitigate the traffic identified in the letter, (2) notify the Bureau and the Traceback Consortium, within 48 hours, of the steps taken to mitigate the identified traffic, and (3) inform the Bureau and the Traceback Consortium, within 14 days, of the steps that Urth Access has taken to prevent customers from using its network to transmit illegal robocalls. If Urth Access fails to comply with the requirements set forth in the letters, it may be removed from the Robocall Mitigation Database, obligating all other providers to cease carrying all of its traffic.

Purpose. Protecting individuals and entities from the dangers of unwanted and illegal robocalls is the Commission’s top consumer protection priority. As part of the Commission’s multi-pronged approach to combatting illegal robocalls, the Commission has taken steps to encourage voice service providers to block suspected illegal robocalls. The Commission permits voice service providers to block traffic from other voice service providers that the Bureau has warned are transmitting suspected illegal robocalls. The Bureau has issued several “cease-and-desist” letters, warning voice providers that they were transmitting suspected illegal robocalls and could be subject to blocking.

Nature of Apparently Unlawful Robocall Traffic. The Department of Education has offered or extended

Federal Communications Commission DA 22-1182

forbearance on student loan repayments multiple times since March 20, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; each time, telemarketers and scammers have responded by flooding consumers with robocalls about student loans. On August 24, 2022, President Biden announced student loan forgiveness for millions of Americans and an extension of the loan forbearance period through December 31, 2022. News reports and consumer complaints show that there has been an increase in scams regarding student loans since that announcement. Using data from YouMail, a call blocking application, the Bureau identified two robocall campaigns representing approximately 40 percent of all student loan-related robocalls reaching YouMail subscribers in October 2022. Nearly all of these robocalls appear to be originating from Urth Access.

The robocalls include prerecorded messages purporting to offer student loan assistance, including loan forgiveness. Many of them reference an entity such as the “Student Loan Center.” For example, some of the robocalls contained the following message:

Hello this is to inform you that the Student Loan payment suspension has been extended to December 31 of this year. Also, everyone is now going to get $10,000 dismissed upon income verification. If you do not verify your income, on January 1, your payments will start back up automatically. To receive the full dismissal, not just the $10,000 dismissal, a petition will be filed in your behalf so that your loan payments do not begin on January 1. If you’re being serviced by Nelnet, Navient, Fed loans or Great Lakes, please press 5 on your phone now. If your servicer was not listed, you can also receive a dismissal by pressing 5. If you have verified your income and received your partial or full dismissal already, please press 9 to stop your notifications. Thank you.

Urth Access Apparently Lacked the Requisite Consent. Urth Access’s student loan robocalls appear to violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) codified in section 227 of the Communications Act. Urth Access claimed to the Traceback Consortium that its customers had obtained called parties’ consent for the robocalls. Urth Access provided the Traceback Consortium “consent logs” that included website addresses that allegedly captured the called party’s consent. Examples included “healthinsnow.org,” “gohealth.healthcare,” and “healthme.live.” None of these websites appear to have any connection with student loan assistance. Instead, all relate to health insurance or health care services. Urth Access apparently knew that these student loan robocalls were not related to health insurance.

In addition, the consent logs apparently fail to provide adequate disclosure that would constitute consent. For example, for telemarketing calls, the Commission requires the caller to provide “clear and conspicuous disclosure” when obtaining prior express written consent. The websites included TCPA consent disclosures whereby the consumer agreed to receive robocalls from “marketing partners.” The consumer had to click on the hyperlink associated with “marketing partners.” The list of “marketing partners” on that second website contained the names of 5,329 entities. We find that listing more than 5,000 “marketing partners” on a secondary website is not sufficient to demonstrate that the called parties consented to the calls. Consequently, because: (1) the websites that Urth Access has thus far referenced do not seek or obtain consent to receive robocalls about student loans; (2) the consent was accessible only if the consumer clicked on a hyperlink and reviewed a second webpage; and (3) the second webpage listed 5,329 ostensible “marketing partners,” we conclude that Urth Access and its customers apparently lacked consent for the calls.

Follow-Up Order. In the event that the Originating Provider fails to comply with the requirements laid out in the relevant cease-and-desist letter, the Bureau will issue a follow-up Order to all U.S.-based voice service providers notifying them of this fact. In the event that a follow-up Order is issued by the Bureau in this matter, pursuant to section 64.1200(n)(2) of the Commission’s Rules, all U.S.-based voice service providers shall be required to “[t]ake steps to effectively mitigate illegal traffic,” including investigating and taking steps—up to and including blocking, if necessary—to prevent the source of the illegal traffic from continuing to originate such traffic.

Contact Information. For further information, please contact Kristi Thompson, Division Chief,

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Enforcement Bureau, Telecommunications Consumers Division, at 202-418-1318 or by email at Kristi.Thompson@fcc.gov; Lisa Zaina, Asst. Chief, Enforcement Bureau, Telecommunications Consumers Division, at 202-418-2803 or by email at Lisa.Zaina@fcc.gov; or Daniel Stepanicich, Enforcement Bureau, Telecommunications Consumers Division, at 202-418-7451 or by email at Daniel.Stepanicich@fcc.gov.

ENFORCEMENT BUREAU

Loyaan A. Egal

Chief