Allstate Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Robocalls ‘Spoofed’ by Vendor

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Allstate Insurance Company faces a proposed class action over its alleged practice of using third-party telemarketing agencies to place automated calls to consumers who never consented to receive them and/or whose numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.

According to the 18-page lawsuit, the use of an automatic telephone dialing system to place non-emergency calls to recipients who never provided express written consent to receive them is a violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The case stresses that even if Allstate did not make the calls itself, it is still responsible to ensure that its vendors, including AGAX Leads, comply with the TCPA.

The plaintiff, an Ohio citizen, says she received in December 2019 a call to her cell phone that appeared to come from the phone number (740) 427-1002, which has the same area code as the individual’s own number. The lawsuit suspects that the call came from AGAX, an overseas telemarketing firm the plaintiff claims used technology to make the call appear as if it were coming from her home area via a technique called “spoofing” the caller ID number.

According to the case, Phoenix Leads sold the plaintiff’s contact information to Overstep Leads, who then used AGAX to place the calls on behalf of Allstate. The suit claims none of these entities had obtained the plaintiff’s consent before the telemarketing calls were placed.

The plaintiff says that upon answering the December call, she heard a long pause and then hung up. The next month, in January 2020, the plaintiff allegedly received two additional phone calls from the same number and heard long pauses after answering each one, which the suit says indicates the calls were placed using automatic telephone dialing technology.

Per the suit, the plaintiff stayed on the line after answering the third call in order to determine the identity of the caller. After providing a fictitious name and other information such as her address, date of birth, type of vehicle owned and driving history, the plaintiff was told that she would receive a quote for her car insurance needs, the suit says.

The plaintiff thereafter received a series of emails from an Allstate agent with a quote for insurance coverage to be provided by the defendant, according to the complaint.

The case claims Allstate, through agents acting on its behalf, violated the TCPA by using automatic telephone dialing equipment to place calls to the plaintiff’s cell phone without first obtaining her consent to be contacted. Moreover, the defendant additionally violated the federal statute by placing calls to consumers whose cell phone numbers were listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, the lawsuit says.

According to the complaint, Allstate “acted willfully, knowingly, and without regard to the TCPA when it caused the calls to be initiated as described above.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the U.S. to whom AGAX, using leads sold by Phoenix to Overstep, made one or more calls for the purpose of selling Allstate goods and services and had their calls transferred to an Allstate agent on or after September 23, 2016.

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