The North Carolina Attorney General’s office is suing a firm it accuses of unlawful robocalling. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Last week, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announced that his office was filing a lawsuit against Club Exploria, LLC, for allegedly spamming more than one million residents with unlawful robocalls attempting to sell timeshares and vacation rentals.
Speaking at the press conference last Friday, Stein alleged that Club Exploria violated North Carolina law that requires companies to obtain consent from customers before robocalling them. The North Carolina Department of Justice has received almost a dozen complaints about the company’s business practices. “It’s unacceptable,” Stein said.
“We’re taking them to court and asking the court to stop them from making robocalls in the future.”
Today, the company announced it intends to contest those claims, declaring the allegations “false,” while also expressing hope to resolve the issue quickly.
In a statement, Eric. J. Troutman, counsel for Club Exploria, said Stein’s office is “barking up the wrong tree” by targeting Club Exploria. Troutman denied that his client has broken any laws and said it only engages in calls when consumers specifically requested contact.
“They have shown great leadership on this issue and all Americans should be grateful,” Troutman said of the attorney general’s office. “That being said, they are barking up the wrong tree with this suit. Club Exploria is not a bad actor and, to the contrary, only engages in lawful calling practices when consumers request contact.”
Troutman said in the statement that the lawsuit was “brought in error” and based on outdated claims related to third-party calling campaigns that were likely time-barred by the statute of limitations.
“But even if the calls were more recent, it doesn’t matter—all of the calls apparently at issue here were made after consumers specifically requested contact and were made in a manner consistent with the consumer’s expectation and request.”
In addition to the lawsuit announced Friday, Stein said his office has also issued two civil investigative demands to other companies over concerns they may have also engaged in making illegal robocalls and robotexts.
The attorney general is also seeking a court ruling against the firm Articul8 in a 2022 lawsuit against the phone company for violating telemarketing laws and routing more than 65 million calls to North Carolina residents. Millions of calls routed by Articul8 were from imposters pretending to be from the Social Security Administration, the FBI, and state and local police departments. The lawsuit forced the owner and operator of the company to exit the robocall business. Stein’s office is now asking the court to dissolve Articul8 and end the lawsuit.
“Articul8 and its owner looked the other way and allowed illegal robocalls onto our network where they confused and scared North Carolinians,” said Stein. “I’m pleased that we have put the owner out of business, and I’m asking the court to help us finish this case by shutting down Articul8.”
Attorney Rochelle Sparko (Photo: Center for Responsible Lending)
Stein was joined at the Friday press conference by Captain Eric Carpenter of the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, who shared examples of local residents falling victim to robocall scams, and Rochelle Sparko from the Center for Responsible Lending, who discussed the devastating financial impact these scams can have on vulnerable populations.
“Financial scams can badly harm a family starting out as they seek affordable housing and childcare and try to pay down student debt,” Sparko said. “Likewise, these scams harm and devastate older adults living on a fixed income with little or no opportunity to earn back the hundreds or even thousands of dollars lost.”
Stein offered a few tips to consumers to protect themselves from robocall scams:
Beware of anyone who asks you to send money or gift cards or any form of payment, no matter the reason.
Do not share personal information about yourself or family with unknown callers.
Never feel pressured into giving your money or your data away.
“If you get a call or message from a loved one or friend asking for help, hang up and contact the person directly using the number that you know for that person,” Stein said.
Residents can report suspected scams to the attorney general’s office by calling the toll-free number 877-5-NO-SCAM or by visiting the website NC DOJ.gov/complaint.