Verizon Wireless said that it has filed a lawsuit against unknown telemarketers, in an effort to stop the group from calling its customers and employees. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey Superior Court, alleges the telemarketers illegally used an autodialer to reach Verizon Wireless customers and used “spoofing” techniques to mask the origin of the calls.

The carrier said that since January more than 2 million of its customers and employees received calls on their wireless phones with a pre-recorded voice message indicating that the recipient’s car warranty was about to expire. The call also encouraged them to press 1 for more information.  When a recipient dialed 1, he or she was connected to a person who asked for the make and model of the car.  However, if the recipient asked for information about the company offering the policy, the representative simply hung up and ended the call.

Verizon said the calls came from numbers with 281, 614, 801 and 562 area codes. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal to use an autodialer to make calls to wireless phones, as well as state fraud and privacy laws.