by Each state’s attorney general has agreed to join forces against robocalling to put some fangs into the endless battle. The new Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force is being led by the AGs of North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio.
According to Stein’s announcement, the group would focus on pursuing legal action against telecoms, particularly gateway providers, that allow or turn a blind eye to foreign robocalls sent to US lines.
Under the statute, gateway providers that bring in traffic from foreign countries into the US telephone network must confirm that it is legal.
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Stein stated that they aren’t doing much to prevent robocalls from entering the US phone network. In certain circumstances, they allow the traffic to go through on purpose to ensure a consistent cash stream.
“We’re… going to take action against phone companies that violate state and federal laws. I’m proud to create this nationwide task force to hold companies accountable when they turn a blind eye to the robocallers they’re letting on to their networks so they can make more money. I’ve already brought one pathbreaking lawsuit against an out-of-state gateway provider, and I won’t hesitate to take legal action against others who break our laws and bombard North Carolinians with these harmful, unlawful calls.”
Earlier this year, the National Consumer Law Center revealed that over 33 million American phone numbers receive scam robocalls daily. Social Security scams and gift card scams in which criminals appear to be from the IRS are among the most common.
According to the center’s analysis, consumers will continue to get robocalls so long as phone companies profit from them.
Stein has already fought dubious gateway providers in the past. As of January, Articul8 was accused of making more than 65 million calls to North Carolina phone numbers and bombarding residents with up to 200 telemarketing calls a day.
As a result, he has encouraged the FCC to take action against carriers like Articul8, which also facilitate illicit international phone calls. In 2019, Stein played a crucial role in creating an agreement between the US Attorney’s General and 12 carriers in the country to employ STIR/SHAKEN call-blocking technology.
