Judgment Forces Robocall Scammer Out of Telecom Business

In a major legal victory that carries significant implications for consumers in South Durham and across the state, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced this week that the state – alongside seven others – has won a permanent court order against a notorious robocall operator responsible for bombarding millions of residents with scam phone calls.

The ruling bars Houston-based scammer John Spiller from ever operating in the telecommunications industry again. Spiller, who owned several voice service providers, facilitated tens of millions of illegal robocalls to North Carolinians – many of whom were registered on the federal Do Not Call list.

“This fraudster helped make billions of scam robocalls to steal from people all over the country for years, including here in North Carolina,” said Attorney General Jackson. “This is a huge win that will help keep millions of people safe from phone scams and fraud.”

According to court documents, Spiller’s companies were behind more than 75 million robocalls to North Carolina residents in just two years – more than 34 million of which targeted people who had taken the step of joining the Do Not Call Registry. Spiller’s operations, including Rising Eagle Capital Group and JSquared Telecom, exploited weaknesses in telecom oversight to flood phone lines with scam pitches, often involving fake insurance offers or Social Security warnings.

Local residents have long voiced frustration over the overwhelming number of robocalls, many targeting the elderly and vulnerable. The ruling is a welcome reprieve for households in South Durham, where residents are no strangers to scam calls that ring in at all hours of the day.

The permanent injunction also prohibits Spiller from collaborating with known co-conspirators, using deceptive aliases in regulatory filings, and compels him to pay over $600,000 in legal fees and costs to the states that brought him to justice.

Jackson credited the legal team at the North Carolina Department of Justice for their persistence in the case. “Anyone who tries to hurt or rip off North Carolinians will run up against my office and be held responsible,” he said.

Joining North Carolina in the suit were the attorneys general of Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Texas.

For South Durham residents looking to reduce robocalls, Jackson’s office encourages registering with the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov), reporting suspicious calls to ncdoj.gov, and using call-blocking tools provided by phone carriers.

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