(Madison) The state of Wisconsin, along with the Federal Trade Commission and attorney generals, in Washington DC and all 50 states, have launched a program to stop scam calls. The program, titled “Operation Stop Scam Calls” is aimed at combating the surge in illegal telemarketing, including robocalls.
Specifically, this targets telemarketers, the companies that hire them, and lead generators, who deceptively collect and provide consumers’ telephone numbers to robocallers and falsely represent those consumers.
It also targets the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers who facilitate tens of billions of illegal robocalls every year, most of which originate overseas. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture officials say telemarketing ranks near the top of consumer complaints every year.
Attorney General Josh Kaul says attorney generals across the country are unified in fighting telemarketing. As part of the operation, Kaul sued Avid Telecom owner and vice president for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.
