(The Center Square) – Maine has joined a nationwide effort to crack down on robocalls.
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey said Tuesday that Pine Tree State has teamed up with the Federal Trade Commission and 49 states, and the District of Columbia for “Operation Stop Scam Calls.” The effort is aimed at stopping illegal telemarketing calls to consumers.
According to a release, billions of illegal telemarketing calls are made yearly in the United States.
“These calls are one of the key ways for scammers to get financial and personal information from unsuspecting victims,” Frey said in a statement. “My office hears from Mainers every day who have been victimized by these calls.”
According to a release, the initiative builds on Maine’s effort, along with those of other states and federal partners, targeting robocalls. It is designed to target telemarketers, the companies who hire them, and lead generators.
According to a release, lead generators deceptively collect consumers’ telephone numbers and provide them in a manner that allegedly falsely represents consumer consent to the calls.
“Today, government agencies at all levels are united in fighting the scourge of illegal telemarketing,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a release. “We are taking action against those who trick people into phony consent to receive these calls and those who make it easy and cheap to place these calls. The FTC and its law enforcement partners will not rest in the fight against illegal telemarketing.”
The initiative, according to a release, also targets Voice over Internet Protocol service providers. Those providers facilitate tens of billions of illegal robocalls, many of which originate outside the U.S.
Maine joining the operation, according to a release, comes on the heels of May’s Operation Stop Scam Calls legal action against Avid Telecom. The FTC has announced five new cases against individuals and companies responsible for placing billions of illegal telemarketing calls to consumers nationwide.
According to a release, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the FTC law enforcement arms are part of the initiative.
According to a release, the FTC has materials designed to help consumers block unwanted telemarketing calls at ftc.gov/calls.
