LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging the federal government to adopt new rules to combat robocall and caller ID spoof calls.
The state's AG Office said that in the first four months of 2019, Michiganders received 500 million robo and spoof calls.
"Everyday, more than ten times a day," said Sharne Beachum, a Saginaw resident. "I hate them. They're worrisome. They irritate my soul."
These calls are driven primarily by scams.
"The minute they get you on the line, that's when they start their scam operation and try to get you to fork over personal information anywhere from social security from driver's license. They get you to try and wire money," said Kelly Rossman-Mckinney, Communications Director for the Attorney General.
Attorney General Dana Nessel is joining forces with 42 other AG's across the country to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt the proposed Ray Baum's Act rule changes that will proactively fight the growing problem.
"We're asking them to expand the rules so that it's expansion prohibits calls from outside the country. Right now the rules as I understand it prohibits spoof and robocalls from within the country," Rossman said.
The calls right now bombarding consumers are mainly coming from overseas.
"It would be awesome if they could cause what's the point of em? You put yourself on the non-call list and that still don't work," Beachum said.
After submitting a letter to the FCC, the next step for Nessel's office is to continue to urge the federal government and FCC to prohibit spoof calls and robo calls.
To avoid being scammed:
- Don't answer the phone call.
- Don't provide any personal information.
- File a complaint with the State Attorney Generals Office or the FCC.
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