Robocall Defense Outfit Gets Hacked, Customer Data Stolen

A company that helps telemarketing companies avoid “TCPA predators” has been hacked. Information leaked included email addresses, phone numbers and passwords of its customers, as well as the phone numbers and other data of people who have hired TCPA attorneys on the plaintiff side. The company, called The Blacklist Alliance, “helps marketers, call centers, and other organizations that use an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) to avoid and defend against Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation.” The company says it is not a law firm, but does provide prepaid legal services by independent licensed attorneys, in three areas: settlements, legal consultations, and compliance reviews. The TCPA prohibits calls or text messages to consumers, unless the caller has received prior consent, and it mandates statutory damages of $500 to $1,500, per call, for violators. According to The Blacklist Alliance, a problem for the marketeers is that even if they attempt to comply with this limitation they may run into the problem of “professional plaintiffs” who register multiple phone numbers, on the chance that one or more of those numbers was registered to someone who had previously given consent. Then – aided by a coterie of class action lawyers who specialize in these matters – they pounce if they get a robocall. One service offered by company is software that “scrubs these high-risk numbers from your outbound campaigns.” Readers who are themselves plagued with robocalls may be interested in a product referenced in this Krebs on Security article: It provides subscribers with their own “automated bots” that can be programmed to keep telemarketers engaged for several minutes.