CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey applauded the recent passage of legislation in the U.S. Senate to curb illegal robocalls and spoofing.
Attorney General Morrisey joined a bipartisan coalition of 54 state and territory attorneys general in March in calling upon the U.S. Senate to support the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.
“We applaud the United States Senate’s actions today because scam calls must come to an end,” Morrisey said in a statement. “Our office constantly receives reports from working people around the state about scam calls, and every week we gather more evidence that scam calls are hurting these people. All 50 state attorneys general have challenged Congress to take this action; we hope today’s vote is yet another step forward in our effort to reduce these nuisance calls. I am committed to doing everything in our office’s power to help stop these robocalls and reduce consumer fraud.”
The attorneys general contend that the legislation would enable states, federal regulators and telecom providers to take steps to combat illegal robocalls.
The TRACED Act 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.
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.
Anyone concerned they have received a suspicious call is asked to 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.