May 20, 2020 

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

To: Craig Denson

CEO

PTGi International Carrier Services, Inc.

4115 Wisconsin Avenue 

Suite 203 

Washington, DC 20016 

Re: Official Correspondence from the Federal Communications Commission and 

Federal Trade Commission

Dear Mr. Denson, 

We have determined that PTGi International Carrier Services, Inc. (PTGi) is apparently 

routing and transmitting Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) scam robocall traffic 

originating from at least one wholesale provider in Germany that your company has refused to 

identify. We request that you cease routing and transmitting such traffic immediately.

On March 13, 2020, the President declared a national emergency concerning the COVID19 outbreak.1

 Fraudsters and unscrupulous actors have taken advantage of this national health 

crisis to send scam robocalls to consumers across the United States. These unwanted robocalls 

include messages alleging that recipients have been charged $399 for tech support services but 

may receive a refund by responding to the robocall. They also include robocalls falsely claiming 

to come from the United States Social Security Administration threatening cutoff of SSA 

benefits. This activity has the potential to inflict severe harm on consumers. Our agencies will 

aggressively pursue legal action against unlawful robocallers and, where appropriate, pursue 

legal action against voice providers routing or transmitting such traffic on their networks.2

Investigations conducted by our agencies, in conjunction with the USTelecom Industry 

Traceback Group, revealed that PTGi is a gateway voice provider for apparently fraudulent 

 

1 Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) 

Outbreak, The White House (Mar. 13, 2020), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamationdeclaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/. 

2 The Federal Trade Commission recently obtained a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction 

against a VoIP provider, Globex Telecom, for assisting and facilitating illegal robocalls. https://www.ftc.gov/newsevents/press-releases/2019/12/court-halts-operations-voip-service-provider-after-ftc-ohio. 
COVID-19 robocalls originating from a Germany-based wholesale provider, which your 

company refused to identify by name. We note that your company’s refusal to disclose to the 

Industry Traceback Group the name of the wholesale provider makes it difficult for U.S. network 

providers to protect themselves against illegal robocall traffic from that entity. This is 

particularly problematic for malicious robocalls capitalizing on public anxiety about the ongoing 

global health crisis. We will take all necessary and appropriate action to prevent these robocalls 

from entering U.S. networks. 

If after 48 hours of issuance of this letter PTGi continues to route or transmit 

harmful robocall traffic from the entity/entities involved in these campaigns, the FCC will 

authorize other U.S. voice providers to block all calls from PTGi and take any other steps 

as needed to prevent further transmission of unlawful calls from PTGi, and we will 

evaluate whether further action is appropriate in connection with your activity.

Please direct any inquiries regarding this letter to Kristi Thompson of the FCC at 

Kristi.thompson@fcc.gov or 202-418-1318; or to James Evans of the FTC at 

james.evans@ftc.gov or 202-326-2026. 

Sincerely,

Rosemary C. Harold 

Chief, Enforcement Bureau 

Federal Communications Commission

Lois C. Greisman

Associate Director, Division of Marketing 

Practices

Federal Trade Commission