DENVER — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, along with a bipartisan group of 50 attorneys general, is urging the Federal Communications Commission to take steps to reduce foreign-based robocalls, Weiser's office announced in a press release Monday.
In a letter to the FCC, the attorneys general asked the commission to adopt rules requiring gateway providers to reduce how easily robocalls enter the U.S. telephone network.
The Colorado Attorney General's Office received 683 reports of fraudulent and unwanted telephone calls in 2020, according to officials. Americans were scammed out of $520 million through robocalls.
“We consistently see robocalls in the top 10 consumer complaints reported to our office, and many of these calls come from outside the United States,” Weiser said. “By taking action, the FCC can establish a new and necessary layer of protection for consumers who regularly receive deceptive phone calls and are in danger of being taken in by scammers. These robocalls are a scourge and we must act quickly to protect consumers.”
The attorneys general focused on gateway providers in their letter to the FCC.
The group supports the FCC's proposal to require providers to implement technology that would help eliminate spoofed phone calls. If approved, the technology would need to be implemented within 30 days.
The attorneys general also voiced support for the following FCC proposals:
- Responding to requests from law enforcement, state attorneys general, or the FCC to trace back calls within 24 hours;
- Blocking calls when providers are aware of an illegal or likely fraudulent caller;
- Blocking calls that originate from numbers that are on a “do not originate” list – such as government phone numbers that are for incoming calls only; and
- Ensuring that foreign telephone companies they partner with are ensuring that calls are being made from legitimate numbers.
Coloradans can report spam calls online.
