Release date:
7/5/2017
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein wrote the federal government this week, urging the FCC to adopt rules that would allow telephone providers to block illegal robocalls. Attorney General Stein wrote the FCC in response to proposed rules that would allow providers to block several types of “spoofed” calls, in which a call appears to be coming from one number, but is actually coming from a different number.
“Scammers frequently use so-called spoofed calls to hide their identity and trick consumers into believing that their calls are from legitimate businesses,” said Attorney General Stein. “I will do everything I can to protect North Carolinians from these fraudulent calls that can lead to people losing their money to criminals.”
Currently, regulatory roadblocks prevent telecommunications companies from blocking many illegal robocalls. If the new rules are adopted, providers would be allowed to block calls coming from invalid numbers, unallocated numbers and numbers whose owners have requested to be blocked. For example, phone providers would be able to block a scammer that is using a telephone number that clearly can’t exist because it hasn’t been assigned. Attorneys general from 29 states joined Attorney General Stein in signing this letter.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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