CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to enact legislation to curb illegal robocalls and spoofing.
A bipartisan coalition of 54 state and territory attorneys general sent a letter to the U.S. Senate in support of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.
Their letter contends that the legislation would enable states, federal regulators and telecom providers to take steps to combat illegal robocalls.
“Our office constantly receives calls from consumers complaining about scams, robocalls and call spoofing,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “Our office is doing what we can within its constitutional power, but we need Congress to step up and help us stop these irritating calls.”
The legislation will require voice service providers to participate in a call authentication framework to help block unwanted calls and creates an interagency working group to take additional actions to reduce robocalls and hold telemarketers and robocallers accountable.
The push comes during National Consumer Protection Week. More than 48 billion robocalls were made in 2018, making them the number one source of consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission and resulting in millions in consumer losses.
West Virginia joined the North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Mississippi-led letter with attorneys general from all 50 states, as well as the attorneys general of Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.
Read a copy of the letter at http://bit.ly/2C50iQe.
Anyone concerned that they have received a suspicious call can contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-368-8808, the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239 or visit the office online at www.wvago.gov.