AUSTIN, Texas — Do you feel like you're being plagued by more robocalls each and every day? Relief could soon be in sight.
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a major crackdown on illegal robocalls, including nearly 100 actions that target operations around the nation responsible for more than one billion calls.
That's right. Those who call you daily pitching fraudulent credit card services or auto warranty protections could soon be penalized.
The joint effort is called "Operation Call it Quits," and it's part of the FTC's ongoing efforts to help quell the rising tide of those annoying and unsolicited pre-recorded telemarketing calls.
The Consumer Protection Division of AG Paxton's office took legal action on several cases that affect Texans.
For instance, a lawsuit was filed against Mendoza Marketing that resulted in an injunction prohibiting the company from making telemarketing calls to Texas consumers, initiating any calls that play a recorded message, or making any calls to a person listed on the federal no-call list. This company's robocalls, according to the attorney general's office, violated several state and federal telemarketing statutes and regulations, including the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
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As another example, the AG's office also filed a motion in federal court seeking to hold Kevin J. Calvin in contempt for violating a prior court order prohibiting him from engaging in illegal telemarketing practices in Texas. In 2015, the Consumer Protection Division received a judgment and permanent injunction against Calvin barring him from placing robocalls without consent of the recipient and calling any Texas resident whose number was on the federal no-call list. Despite that order, the AG's office said Calvin continued to make thousands of illegal calls.
“Robocalls are an invasion of privacy and most robocalls are illegal. Even worse, robocall scams often take advantage of consumers through identity theft and by stealing their hard-earned money,” AG Paxton said. “Operation Call it Quits represents just one of the many consumer protection and enforcement action cases my office has successfully collaborated on with the FTC in our ongoing effort to protect Texans.”
AG Paxton's office said it has seen a significant increase in the number of illegal robocalls due to internet-powered phone systems making it easier for scammers to make illegal calls from anywhere in the world, and to hide from law enforcement by displaying fake caller ID information. This is known as "spoofing."
For more information on how to spot and report phone scams, click here.
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