The Federal Commission for Communications (FCC) has identified the first official threat in the realm of robotic calls, known as Royal Tiger. This announcement aims to streamline the process for law enforcement agencies to track down individuals and organizations responsible for the relentless campaigns of automated calls.
The Royal Tiger group comprises attackers operating from India, Great Britain, the UAE, and the USA. These cybercriminals have been impersonating state institutions, banks, and utilities, using fraudulent phone numbers and offering counterfeit discounts on credit card interest rates.
It is suspected that Prince Jashantlal Anand and his associate, Kauchech Bhavsar, who oversee multiple companies linked to illegal calls in the United States, lead the group. Some of these companies include Voip Illum Telecommunication Limited, Pz Telecommunication LLC, and One Eye LLC.
These companies are believed to have guided GREAT CHOICE Telecom in the US, which was previously fined $225 million and received letters from the FCC and FTC regarding the cessation of their operations due to illegal robocalls.
The new threat classification system in the realm of robocalls, dubbed Consumer Communications Information Services Threat (C-CIST), has been introduced to assist state, federal, and international regulators, as well as law enforcement agencies, in identifying and tracking attackers who exploit telecommunications infrastructure and taking necessary actions against them.
The FCC affirms that these new designations will enable the department to utilize its full authority to block such groups’ access to the US telecommunication space and combat their harmful impact on consumers. Possible enforcement measures may include cease-and-desist letters, removal from databases to mitigate robocalls, and fines, with the final action depending on the specific offender and their transgressions.