PSC issues $420,000 fine for telemarketing

Brandon Presley

JACKSON – (AP) Mississippi regulators have ordered a company named Tailbone Security to pay $420,000 for violating the state's ban on unwanted telemarketing.

Commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday, June 4 to impose the penalty against Tailbone, which is based in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Brandon Presley

It's the latest in a series of large fines that the Public Service Commission has issued for companies that violate the state's prohibition on calling people who have registered their phone numbers to get telemarketers to stop calling.

An order against Tailbone said it also failed to purchase the state “no-call'' list and violated Mississippi's prohibition against telemarketing robocalls – using an automated dialing system to make recorded phone calls – to people on the “no-call'' list.

The order lists 29 complaints, with 84 total violations of the law, each of which was fined at the maximum $5,000 after the company failed to answer state complaints. The commission's penalty is a civil fine, not a criminal action.

Florida corporation records show that Tailbone's registered agent is William Adomanis. At least four other businesses are at the same address, including firms called Supreme Data Connections and Leading Apex, which promise to provide telemarketing leads to businesses. The website for Supreme Data Connections says it can generate leads for home security companies and promises that its work complies with do-not-call rules.

Last year, Mississippi regulators levied a $5.7 million fine against two Arizona companies and their directors. Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley, a Democrat, said the commission is still working to recover some of that fine through legal action in Arizona.

“Any company or individual breaking the law and violating the `do-not-call' registry will e held accountable,'' Central District Commissioner Lynn Posey, a Republican, said in a statement.