Illinois Becomes 44th State to Partner with FCC Against Robocalls, Joins Massachusetts
Anne Bucher | February 23, 2023
Category: Consumer News
Illinois robocalls overview:
Who: Illinois partnered with the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) to protect consumers from robocalls.
Why: The Illinois FCC partnership will consolidate state and federal efforts and provide additional resources to combat Illinois robocalls.
Where: The FCC robocalls agreement will affect Illinois robocalls.
Illinois is the 44th state to partner with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect consumers against robocalls, according to a Feb. 17 announcement by the FCC.
“Nobody likes robocalls,” says FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “To get rid of these junk calls and the scams they foster, we need a hands-on, all-of-government approach. State investigators bring special knowledge and legal tools to this fight and I look forward to working together on joint consumer protection efforts.”
Illinois FCC partnership to provide important resources, cooperation to fight Illinois robocalls
Together, Illinois and the FCC will combine efforts to provide critical resources to build cases. The combined effort will also prevent duplicate efforts by separate state and federal investigation, saving time and resources, according to the Illinois FCC robocall announcement.
The announcement also notes the FCC provides the expertise of its enforcement staff, as well as critical investigative tools, to partner states.
Additionally, the Illinois robocalls agreement with the FCC will allow state and federal robocall investigators to share critical information and cooperate to investigate Illinois robocalls and spoofing campaigns.
“Robocalls are a constant source of frustration for consumers, and my office has long worked to help people avoid losing time and money to unlawful robocalls,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul says of the Illinois robocalls agreement with the FCC. “My office is proud to continue working with the FCC and other states to share resources and information, which will allow us to better investigate and stop scammers that utilize the practice.”
Illinois robocalls agreement with FCC part of larger effort to fight robocalls in the US
The FCC reportedly entered into agreements with 44 states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam. Georgia, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Montana are currently the only states without a memorandum of understanding with the FCC.
In related news, last summer, attorneys general from every state launched a robocall task force intended to protect U.S. consumers from illegal, foreign robocalls.
The robocall task force has reportedly asked the FCC to take certain actions, such as blocking bad actors and requiring caller ID authentication technology.