Attorney General Keith Ellison stated on Tuesday that Minnesota has joined a 50-state task force to look into and prosecute businesses that import international robocalls into the United States.
Ellison has joined other attorneys general in a task force looking into “gateway providers” that offer access to American phone networks as part of the Anti-Robocall Litigation. The ultimate objective is to file lawsuits against the businesses and reduce the number of unlawful robocalls. Even though most of the traffic is international, the task force wants to stop local carriers from sending shady calls to American landlines.
The task force has issued subpoenas to the 20 businesses they think are in charge of a sizable amount of robocalls, requesting information. In many instances, gateway providers appear to be “turning a blind eye” to fraudsters, despite having a responsibility to make sure clients are utilizing access to U.S. phone lines lawfully, according to Ellison’s office.
According to the attorney general, around 33 million fraudulent robocalls are made to Americans every day, and in 2021 alone, scammers took up to $30 billion.
Anyone who has received a hoax robocall is urged to record the number and report it to the attorney general’s office by calling 651-296-3353 in the Twin Cities metro area, 800-657-3787 in greater Minnesota, or online at the attorney general’s website.
