Indiana, Missouri AGs launch national ‘No-Call Law Enforcement Summit’

 

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster today launched the first-ever national “No-Call Law Enforcement Summit.”

Last year, the Indiana attorney general’s office received more than 14,000 Do Not Call complaints with more than 50 percent involving automated calls known as robocalls. The summit is being held today in Indianapolis to help state and federal agencies identify best practices on how to stop unwanted calls and prosecute violators.

“Consumers nationwide are fed up with receiving unwanted calls, and that’s why we have gathered our state and federal partners to identify solutions,” Zoeller said. “It’s important to recognize that many of these annoying calls stem from sources outside the U.S, which falls outside the states’ jurisdictions. States need assistance from the federal government, specifically the Federal Communications Commission, to do more in terms of regulating these types of calls.”

“Consumers place their phone numbers on their state’s No Call list because they do not want to receive annoying, unwanted calls,” said Koster. “As is true in many states, the largest category of consumer complaints filed in Missouri each year involves violations of state No Call and telemarketing laws. I look forward to working with Attorney General Zoeller and other states to develop the ideas generated at this summit and better protect consumers from unlawful telephone harassment and fraud.”

Participants include representatives from more than 20 attorneys general offices, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Canadian Radio-Television Commission and others. The summit’s theme is, “Building a No-Call Case from the Ground Up,” and presenters will focus on new technologies, investigation and prosecution techniques, and interstate and federal cooperation.

Zoeller is a strong proponent of a resolution passed by Indiana state legislators this year which called on the FCC to more aggressively regulate telemarketing calls and robocalls that violate Hoosiers’ telephone privacy.

Businesses often generate sales leads by using third-party telephone solicitors to call consumers, but many times those consumers’ numbers are registered on the state’s Do Not Call list. This year, the Indiana General Assembly passed a new law allowing the attorney general to hold accountable, through legal action, both the solicitors and the companies benefitting from these illegal calls.

Zoeller said Indiana’s top Do Not Call complaint in 2013 stemmed from calls offering credit services, followed by home security and home improvement calls respectively.