Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was among a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, who sent letters to nine phone service providers alleging them of unlawfully routing robocalls.
On Wednesday, the task force, which was created in 2022 to “investigate and take legal action against companies responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the United States,” sent warning letters to the service providers Global Net Holdings, All Access Telecom, Lingo Telecom, NGL Communications, Range, RSCom Ltd, Telcast Network, ThinQ Technologies, and Telcentris.
The letters serve as a warning to providers that they appear to continue violating state and federal laws by routing allegedly unlawful robocalls across their networks. Records show that the providers have collectively been responsible for thousands of traceback notices regarding illegal and suspicious robocalls, the task force said.
Examples of robocalls routed by the providers cited in the warning letters include government imposter scams, debt relief, credit card interest rate reductions, auto warranties, and suspicious Amazon charges.
The task force warns that if the providers fail to take the necessary action to cease transmitting illegal call traffic, the states “may pursue enforcement actions” against the providers and their principals.
In addition, the task force has also communicated its concerns about the nine providers to its federal law enforcement partners, including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Tennessee’s Skrmetti said the work to stop robocalls is a “noble goal that every one of us can get behind.”
“Tennessee is proud to be part of this bipartisan coalition at the forefront of protecting vulnerable Americans from the slick exploitation of relentless robocallers. This is an issue that affects everybody with a phone, and my office will continue to hold service providers’ feet to the fire until this nuisance is eradicated,” Skrmetti added.
According to FCC data, each U.S. consumer receives an average of about 14 robocalls per year.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
