TCPAWorld, "RAW DOG: Bottom Line Concepts Stuck in TCPA Class Action Over Snoop Dogg 'Approved' Message" (March 15, 2024)

Summary

A TCPAWorld post by Eric Troutman dated 15 Mar 2024 reports that Bottom Line Concepts remains a defendant in Martin v. Bottom Line Concepts, a TCPA class action over ringless voicemails allegedly sent without consent. Per the complaint, the voicemails used Snoop Dogg to pitch the Employee Retention Credit, claiming a Snoop Dogg stamp of approval. The post says the court, in a March 14, 2024 decision, found liability plausible, denied the motion to dismiss and rejected challenges to standing and enhanced damages. An editor's note carries a statement from people representing Bottom Line Concepts that the complaint has zero merit, the company does not do voicemail marketing and the voicemail promoted a competitor.

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RAW DOG: Bottom Line Concepts Stuck in TCPA Class Action Over Snoop Dogg “Approved” Message

15 Mar 2024 19 Mar 2024 1 Comment

Having celebrities hawk goods is nothing new, but in the era of AI it has become pretty easy to impersonate someone’s voice and use it to sell a good or service.

Not saying that’s what happened here, but the allegations are so odd that I wonder.

In Martin v. Bottom Line Concepts, 2024 WL 1119982 (S.D. N.Y. March 14, 2024) a company is stuck in a TCPA suit after allegedly sending ringless voicemails without consent.

The voicemails used Snoop Dog to pitch a federal tax break known as the Employee Retention Credit.

Per the complaint, the call stated the ERC had the “Snoop Dogg stamp of approval” and told Plaintiff to go to “ERCEnroll.com” to get “them funds in your hands quicker than you can roll up your favorite … well, you know what I mean.”

BLC moved to dismiss the case arguing that it lacked allegations sufficient to keep it in the case but the Court disagreed.

Finding BLC’s liability “plausible” the court concluded sufficient facts were alleged to hold it potentially liable and also held BLC’s challenge to standing and enhanced damages lacked merit.

In the end BLC is stuck in the suit. Unclear whether the Dogg himself may face potential liability in this one–he is not sued yet, but direct participation in the calling campaign might be enough to bring him in. We’ll keep an eye on it.

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Editor’s note: received a note from folks saying they represent bottom line concepts. they asked us to include this statement in the article:

“The complaint has zero merit since Bottom Line Concepts (BLC) does not engage in telephonic or voicemail marketing and the spam voicemail at the heart of the lawsuit actually promoted one of our competitors. While neither we nor our partners have used AI-generated voice recordings in any outreach or marketing, we will take all necessary legal steps to protect our name and the reputation of excellence built over the past 15 years.

Aggressive tactics such as fake voicemails have been employed by unscrupulous actors who took advantage of the ERC program for fraudulent purposes, and do not reflect BLC’s scrupulous commitment to accuracy and compliance.”

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld

Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance.

He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems.

Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience.

While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail.

Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure.

Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense.

In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues. View all posts by Eric "Czar" Troutman

1 Comment

- Here’s some background on the scam operation known as Bottom Line Concepts…while Snoop Dog may be an AI fake voice (but doubtful given this additional info) even Shark Tanks Mr. Wonderful promotes them… It’s like a multi-level marketing scheme, and they take 25% of the payouts (!!) compared to legit tax firms that do all the work and take 5-15%. What WSJ barely touches on is that BLC and affiliates are cold calling everybody and their brother asking do you own a small biz, do you have more than 6 employees, did you pay any of them during the pandemic? Then you could be eligible for up to $26,000 per employee!! They’ve even using Pakistani call centers to promote their wares here’s one such operator(per WSJ): “It’s really hard to crack,” said Muhammad Rauf, owner of a cold-calling agency in Lahore, Pakistan, that worked with four Bottom Line affiliates. “A lot of people think it’s a scam” and worry the IRS will check their books, he said. Rauf said he stopped working with two affiliates in June because of a fee dispute; his relationship with the others ended in disappointment. “They were thinking they can become a millionaire,” he said.” https://www.wsj.com/business/entrepreneurship/inside-a-sales-army-turning-a-tax-break-into-a-modern-day-gold-rush-3741fa42 https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wsj-explains/how-an-obscure-tax-break-became-a-gold-rush/3AA902C0-5E7E-42B1-B862-D72850518B08 Loading... Reply

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