June 4, 2020
Carson City, NV– Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford
and the State Attorneys General Robocall Working Group wrote a comment letter
to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding illegal robocalls. In
the letter, AG Ford encouraged the FCC to facilitate continued collaboration
among state attorneys general and telecommunications companies to coordinate
tracing back illegal robocalls to their source.
Under the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal
Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, which became law in December 2019, the
FCC will select a single registered association to manage the tracing back of
illegal robocalls. Because a call can pass through the networks of many
telecommunication companies before reaching its final destination, tracing that
call—which is key to enforcing our laws against illegal robocallers—requires
collaboration among these companies and state attorneys general. In their comments,
the states note that traceback investigations are necessary for law enforcement
to more efficiently identify and investigate illegal robocallers and expose
voice service providers that assist and facilitate illegal robocallers.
“Robocalls affect everyone far
and wide, and during the pandemic, these illegal calls have increased with fake
offers for coronavirus testing and relief,” said AG Ford. “I’m proud to
be working on several fronts to protect Nevadans from these annoying and
illegal calls, and I’m encouraging the FCC to continue to work with my office
and telecommunication companies to trace back these calls.”
AG
Ford has consistently encouraged the telecommunication industry to increase the
number and speed of traceback investigations each month. Many
telecommunication companies have joined this effort and are working
hard to stop illegal robocallers. Traceback investigations are more urgent
than ever because of coronavirus-related robocall scams, including scams
related to coronavirus relief checks, pitches for coronavirus test kits, health
plans offering coronavirus testing, work-from-home offers preying on
job-seekers, and scams offering relief on utility bills, student loans, taxes
or other debt.
Since 2018, Nevada has been a member of a
coalition of states working with the telecom industry to attack the scourge of
robocalls in a comprehensive way by implementing common-sense business
practices to minimize illegal robocalls and trace these calls back to their
source.
AG Ford is joined in submitting today’s
comments by the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico,
Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
A copy of the
comments is available here.
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