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WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

Monday, September 23, 2024

Morrisey, other AGs support FCC plan for anti-robotext protections

State AG
Angryphone

CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and other AGs support an Federal Communications Commission proposal to cut unwanted text messages by requiring mobile wireless providers to block texts from invalid, unassigned or unused numbers, and from numbers on a Do Not Originate list.

“These texts and calls are not only annoying, they are used by bad actors to dupe people into different kinds of scams,” Morrisey said. “The FCC’s proposal, I believe, will quell these intrusions and stop scammers from taking advantage of consumers.”

Morrisey and other AGs have long been fighting to reduce robocalls. But scammers are shifting to using robotexts to run the same scams.


Morrisey

Just like spam calls, spam texts are an irritation and can result in people losing millions through phishing texts, imposter scams and links containing ransomware. In 2021, the FCC received more than 15,000 consumer complaints about unwanted texts and, in 2020, scammers stole more than $86 million through frauds perpetrated via scam text messages.

The bipartisan coalition of 51 AGs sent a letter to the FCC supporting its proposal to require mobile wireless providers to block unlawful text messages at the network level if they originate from fraudulent numbers.

Further, the AGs are asking the FCC to continue pushing the wireless industry to develop call authentication technology for text messages so people can know if the texts they receive are from spoofed numbers and law enforcement can investigate where these texts are coming from.

  

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