PHOENIX - Attorney General Mark Brnovich today wrote the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of its efforts to reduce illegal robocallers’ access to legitimate phone numbers, which bad actors use to make unending robocalls that scam people out of their hard-earned money.
Earlier this year, phone companies were required to implement STIR/SHAKEN – caller ID authentication technology to combat spoofing by ensuring that telephone calls originate from verified numbers. Because the technology prevents robocallers from spoofing phone numbers, scam robocalls have dropped by 29 percent since June as the phone industry continues to put STIR/SHAKEN into effect.
Robocallers are now successfully evading caller ID authentication by purchasing access to legitimate phone numbers to conceal their identities. They typically do this by providing false identifying information to, or otherwise shielding their identities from, the companies that have access to legitimate numbers.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich supports the FCC’s proposals to implement a more thorough application, review, and monitoring process for phone companies that request direct access to phone numbers and to require these companies to verify their customers’ identities to help keep the numbers from being sold, leased, or rented to illegal robocallers. This includes limiting the use of both temporary phone numbers for trial customers and untraceable payment mechanisms.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich is joined in sending this comment letter by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
A copy of the letter is available HERE.
AGO Efforts to Combat Robocalls
The Arizona Attorney General's Office (AGO) is on the executive committee of a bipartisan coalition of 40 state attorneys general focused on stopping or reducing annoying and harmful robocalls. In October 2020, Attorney General Brnovich filed an amicus brief in Facebook v. Noah Duguid, arguing the case is key to states’ ability to protect residents from scammers who use abusive robocall tactics to threaten and scam people out of their money.
Since 2017, the AGO has obtained numerous Do Not Call judgments, including a $1,000,000 civil penalty against Adobe Carpet Cleaning, a $340,000 civil penalty against Desert Valley Aire, and a $150,000 civil penalty against Orangutan Home Services.
The AGO maintains a webpage on robocalls and telemarketing that includes consumer tips on how to protect yourself from robocalls and spam texts. The webpage also includes different call-blocking apps and telecom provider services to block robocalls.