CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office is part of a bipartisan task force warning four voice service providers that have been transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic on their networks on behalf of one or more customers.
“These alleged violations are very serious and these companies need to immediately cease transmitting these calls,” Morrisey said. “West Virginia remains committed to making progress in combating unlawful robocalls and we will continue to cooperate with other states and national agencies to stop these alleged illegal and obnoxious scam calls.
“By joining forces, I believe our coalition can achieve success in fighting illegal robocalls and produce real results to quell these intrusions.”
Morrisey
| File photo
Morrisey is a member of the 51-attorney general Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which has been investigating these providers. In the warning letters, the task force informs the providers it already has shared the findings of its investigations with the Federal Communications Commission, which will consider appropriate next steps.
The task force sent warning letters, dated December 10, to the following companies:
* KWK Communications Inc.: KWK Communications received at least 129 traceback notices from the industry traceback group between 2020 and 2022, which included high volumes of calls associated with IRS and Social Security Administration scams, auto warranty scams, and utilities scams. In just one month in 2022, KWK allegedly routed more than 20,000 calls with illegally spoofed telephone numbers and more than 8.7 million calls made using invalid Caller ID numbers.
* Inbound Communications Inc. formerly Inbound Inc. Inbound received at least 63 traceback notices between 2021 and 2022, including many about calls that involved imposter scams. Inbound is also estimated to have allegedly routed more than 28.4 million DirecTV and cable discount scam robocalls in a single month in 2022. The FTC previously issued a cease-and-desist demand to Inbound over these scam calls.
* AKA Management, Inc. AKA received at least 129 traceback notices between 2020 and 2022, including about calls that were government imposter scams and tech support scams. AKA is also estimated to have allegedly routed about 12.1 million Amazon and Apple impostor robocalls to consumers in a single month in 2022.
* CallVox LLC: CallVox received more than 47 traceback notices between 2020 and 2022 warning of unlawful or suspicious robocalls that it helped move into and through the U.S. telephone network, including thousands of calls to people who were registered on the Do Not Call list and calls placed using illegally spoofed telephone numbers.
The task force's letters warned that if these providers continue to transmit robocalls and violate state and federal laws, the task force may pursue further legal actions against these companies and their owners.
The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force of 51 bipartisan attorneys general investigates and takes legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States.
The task force is being led by North Carolina Attorney General Joshua H. Stein’s office. North Carolina Special Deputy Attorney General Tracy Nayer signed the letters.