PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Nov. 16 that he agreed with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to adopt new rules to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls.
Brnovich has been at the forefront of this issue. In July, he led a bipartisan coalition of 30 attorneys general in asking the federal government to adopt new rules related to telemarketing calls. The coalition specifically sought a ban on “spoofed” calls, which is when scammers make a phone call that appears to come from a different number than the one it’s actually coming from. Scammers do this to hide their identity and trick consumers.
The new FCC rules allow phone companies to be proactive in blocking calls that are likely to be fraudulent because they come from suspicious telephone numbers. Providers can now block calls from invalid numbers and unallocated numbers.
“These new rules will help us stop illegal phone scammers from preying on hardworking Arizona families,” Brnovich said. “We need to use every tool available to protect consumers from scam calls and that includes allowing phone companies to block spoof robocalls.”