LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced that she has joined a bipartisan brief filed last week with the U.S. Supreme Court in the ongoing fight against robocalls.
According to a statement, this brief is meant to preserve the anti-robocall provisions of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Nessel’s office released the following statement Tuesday:
“The TCPA, enacted in 1991, is a critical piece of federal consumer-protection legislation allowing states to sue illegal robocallers on their residents’ behalf. A recent decision in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals invalidated a portion of the act, potentially jeopardizing the entire federal robocall ban.”
The case, officially known as “Barr et al. v. American Association of Political Consultants Inc. et al.,” is now before the Supreme Court.
“Michigan is leading the charge in putting a stop to robocalls and I’m proud to stand alongside my fellow attorneys general in filing this brief,” Nessel said. “The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a critical tool needed to take action against illegal robocallers and we can’t afford to lose it.”
Nessel originally began a crackdown of robocalls last November. Following the establishment of the Robocall Crackdown Team, over 2,400 calls complaints have been received.
“Michiganders must remain on the lookout for potential scammers and protect themselves by safeguarding their personal and financial information,” Nessel said. “If you are contacted by someone you believe to be a scammer, do not provide them any information and simply hang up the phone.”
Scams can include, but are not limited to:
Nessel maintains that the best way to deal with robocalls is to hang up or don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the number.
Despite this, citizens can still help the Michigan government investigate these calls.
Retaining certain pieces of information and submitting them to the Attorney General’s office through an official complaint form online can be vital to prosecution:
- Robocaller’s phone number;
- Your phone number and service provider (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.);
- The date and time of the robocall;
- Whether the robocall was soliciting goods or services; and
- The topic of the robocall scam (e.g. student loans, Social Security numbers, IRS liability, etc.).
A copy of the Supreme Court filing can be viewed online at this link.
In a related matter, the Better Business Bureau has recently released a report of the most prevalent types of scams in the year 2019.
