Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 42 state attorneys general who filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission to fight illegal robocalls and malicious caller ID spoofing.
In the comment letter, the attorneys general called upon the FCC to adopt proposed rule changes that would allow the agency to more effectively fight caller ID spoofing activities and robocalls originating outside the U.S.
They said the proposed rule changes would broaden the FCC's authority to "hold these criminals accountable for the significant harm they inflict on U.S. consumers."
According to the letter, "the explosive growth of caller ID spoofing and robocalls is being driven primarily by scams."
The letter cites industry experts' estimates that 47.8 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. in 2018 and that was an increase of 56.8% over 2017.
"Of these 47.8 billion total estimated robocalls, 37 percent were scams related to health insurance, student loans, easy money scams, tax scams, travel scams, business scams, and warranty scams," stated the letter.
According to Nessel, telemarketing and robocall scams were number two on the list of consumer complaints to the Michigan Attorney General's Office in 2018.
"Protecting the people of Michigan is our first priority and that's precisely why I've joined attorneys general from across the nation in support of this rule change," Nessel said in a written statement.
