Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general, has launched Operation Robocall Roundup. It is an effort by the multistate Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force to crack down on robocalls across the country. As part of their efforts, Raoul and the coalition are sending warning letters to 37 voice providers demanding immediate action to stop illegal robocalls being routed through their networks.
Raoul says the announcement is the latest step taken in the task force’s efforts to address intrusive and illegal robocalls that plague Illinoisans, and he plans to continue to work closely with his fellow attorneys general and the FCC to protect Illinois consumers and ensure all telecom companies play by the rules.
According to Raoul, the telecom providers being sent warning letters have failed to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules on responding to government traceback requests. They also have failed to register in the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database or to file a plan describing how they will reduce illegal robocalls on their network. By disregarding these rules, Raoul says the companies are allowing robocallers into their phone networks and then passing those calls on to other downstream providers until they reach the phones of Illinois residents.
Raoul and the task force are also sending letters to 99 downstream providers that accept call traffic from the 37 companies, warning those companies they are doing business with bad actors that are not willing to follow rules that apply to all providers.
In addition, the FCC announced on Wednesday that seven of these providers will be removed from the Robocall Mitigation Database, which means that other providers will no longer be allowed to accept and route any calls from their networks.
In 2022, 51 attorneys general joined forces to create the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The Task Force investigates and takes legal action against companies responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the United States.
