Hawaii AG calls on FCC to crack down on illegal robocalls

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii’s attorney general and 48 other attorneys general are urging the Federal Communications Commission to tighten rules targeting illegal robocalls and scam texts.

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On Wednesday, Attorney General Anne Lopez and the attorneys general asked the commission to strengthen rules aimed at limiting scammers’ access to legitimate telephone numbers.

The AG’s office said scammers are buying legitimate numbers and cycling through them to dodge filters, after earlier efforts made spoofing harder.

“Scammers are always looking for new ways to steal hard-earned money and exploit consumers. Our efforts to stop them must evolve as well,” Lopez said.

Officials said Americans receive about 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts, with losses of nearly $2 billion.

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In 2021, the attorney’s office said the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force asked the FCC to work on the issue, and the coalition is responding to the commission’s proposed rules.

Aside from the steps the FCC is already taking, the attorney general’s office said the bipartisan effort is asking the federal government to do more, including:

The FCC will decide on the proposal at a later date.

“Strengthening these rules will make it harder for scammers to hide behind legitimate phone numbers and provide law enforcement agencies with stronger tools to hold scammers accountable,” Lopez said.

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