Verizon Wireless goes after telemarketers in autodialer lawsuit

Verizon Wireless has filed a lawsuit against unknown telemarketers who allegedly placed more than 1 million calls to the carrier’s subscribers last month to advertise low mortgage rates.
The suit, filed in Superior Court in Somerville, N.J., claims that the calls came from the caller ID 712-429-0367 or numbers with similar exchanges; the exchange is an Iowa area code. Verizon Wireless said that in a 10-hour period on March 5, more than 43,000 calls were made from the 712 number, evidence of an autodialer.
“These unlawful telemarketing calls invade the privacy of Verizon Wireless’ customers, and we will use every weapon in our legal arsenal to protect our customers,” said Steven Zipperstein, the carrier’s vice president and general counsel.