REACH Board Members Adam Young & Brandon Browsky Lead Fraud Schemes
An ongoing federal investigation has uncovered allegations that two prominent players in the pay-per-call marketing industry – Ringba, LLC and Minerva Advertising – engaged in coordinated practices that undermined consumer protections and violated the self-regulatory REACH standards, according to a compiled report of court filings and agency findings.
Federal criminal and civil records allege that Ringba’s call‑routing platform transmitted calls generated by fraudulent “tech support” pop‑ups and fake system alerts to boiler‑room call centers that sold bogus technical assistance for millions of dollars to unsuspecting elderly grandparents. Investigators say those malicious calls were not initiated with valid consumer consent, striking at the heart of REACH’s first principle, which requires informed, consumer-initiated leads.
“Evidence shows Ringba enabled the sale and routing of calls from victims of Tech Support Fraud to call brokers and call centers,” the report states, describing the alleged use of fake virus warnings to capture victims’ phone numbers and route them into a scam marketplace. Federal prosecutors have charged related defendants with wire fraud and are pursuing cooperating witnesses who have provided testimony about company operations and leadership involvement.
Compounding the industry implications is the involvement of two REACH Board members. The report identifies Adam Young of Ringba and Brandon Bowsky of Minerva Advertising as board members whose companies’ conduct appears to contravene the association’s governance expectations. DOJ filings and cooperating witness statements reportedly tie company leadership to operational decisions central to the alleged fraud schemes, raising questions about REACH’s stewardship and conflict‑of‑interest protections.
The probe further documents techniques allegedly used to conceal the origin of illicit calls. Investigators describe “rotating telephone numbers,” caller ID spoofing, and mislabeling inbound traffic to deceive telecom carriers and advertisers. Such tactics, the report says, violate REACH’s traffic integrity standard banning falsification of traffic origin and metadata and nullify traceability that carriers and regulators rely on to detect abuse.
Both companies are accused of misrepresenting their services to partners and the public. Minerva’s advertising campaigns allegedly promised “free government health benefits” and gift cards to induce lead capture for resale, while Ringba publicly touted itself as a “TCPA‑compliant call‑tracking solution” even as its infrastructure was reportedly used to obscure the source of illegal robocalls. The report frames those public claims as deceptive and inconsistent with REACH’s standard on honest advertising.
The report recommends immediate suspension of both firms from REACH membership and board positions, an independent ethics and technical audit of call‑routing and lead‑generation practices, and referral of materials to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice for further action. It further suggests amending the REACH rules to mandate the automatic suspension of any member under active criminal investigation.
Industry observers say the accusations, if proven, represent a severe breach of trust between marketers, carriers, and consumers and underscore the need for stricter enforcement of transparency and data‑privacy standards across the pay‑per‑call ecosystem.
