April 3, 2020 

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED AND EMAIL

To: Jonathan Spalter 

President & CEO

USTelecom – The Broadband Association 

 601 New Jersey Avenue, NW 

 Suite 600 

 Washington, DC 20001 

Cc: Patrick Halley

 phalley@ustelecom.org 

Re: Official Correspondence from the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade 

Commission 

Dear Mr. Spalter,

On behalf of the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, we 

express gratitude for the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group’s prompt response to identify and 

mitigate fraudulent robocalls that are taking advantage of the national health crisis related to the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Robocalls and malicious spoofed calls that prey on consumer fear and 

anxiety during a national emergency are outrageous and extremely harmful. Our agencies are committed 

to taking aggressive action against anyone that engages in or facilitates such calls. 

We are aware that the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group has recently identified multiple

COVID-19-related calling campaigns affecting consumers in the United States. Specifically, one 

campaign offers a non-existent “free test kit” for COVID-19 while a second campaign offers HVAC 

cleaning services that falsely claim will help fight COVID-19 (hereinafter the “Robocalls”).

The USTelecom Industry Traceback Group has helped identify the following entities as 

responsible for originating or transmitting the Robocalls: 

Originator(s): 

VoIPMax, (Philippines)

Oberlo Peer BPO (Pakistan)

Gateway Provider(s): 

SIPJoin, (Barry Augustinsky, Suffolk, VA ); 

Connexum, (Chris Cordero, 1122 E. Lincoln Ave., Suite 203, Orange, CA 92865; 

Scott Kettle, 17901 Von Karman Ave., Suite 600, Irvine, CA 92614); 
2 

VoIP Terminator/BLMarketing (Muhammad U. Khan, 250 International Pkwy, 

Suite 108, Lake Mary, FL 32746). 

We must take swift action to protect consumers from further harm from these unlawful, 

malevolent robocalls during this national emergency. Therefore, concurrent with this letter, we have 

requested the above-named gateway providers to stop routing and transmitting such calls within 48 hours. 

We also have notified them that, where appropriate, we may pursue legal action against those facilitating, 

routing, or transmitting such robocall traffic. 

Accordingly, if after 48 hours of the release of this letter, any of the above-listed gateway or 

originating provider(s) continues to route or transmit the above-named originators’ robocalls on its

network—in other words, if it continues to facilitate the entry of unlawful robocalls onto American 

networks—the FCC will: (1) authorize other U.S. providers to block all calls coming from that

gateway or originating provider; and (2) authorize other U.S. providers to take any other steps as 

needed to prevent further transmission of unlawful calls originating from the originator(s) listed 

above. The FCC will also authorize U.S. providers to extend the obligation to prevent transmission of 

these unlawful calls with all entities with which they contract or that handle traffic in any part of the call 

path. Nothing in this letter prohibits any provider from exercising its rights to take immediate action to 

block unlawful calls pursuant to existing legal authority; we encourage and expect providers to take an 

active role in managing their networks and client relationships to protect consumers from harmful, illegal 

robocalls and spoofed calls. 

The work of the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group is essential to combatting the deluge of 

unlawful robocalls and protecting consumers and is particularly vital in swiftly identifying scammers who 

attempt to defraud consumers during the COVID-19 disease outbreak. We thank you for your 

commitment to the public interest. 

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

Kristi.thompson@fcc.gov or 202-418-1318 or to Ian Barlow of the FTC at ibarlow@ftc.gov or 202-326-

3120. 

Sincerely,

Rosemary C. Harold

Chief, Enforcement Bureau

Federal Communications Commission

Lois C. Greisman

Associate Director, Division of Marketing Practices

Federal Trade Commission