CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general, today launched Operation Robocall Roundup, an effort by the multistate Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force to crack down on robocalls across the country. As part of their efforts, Raoul and the coalition are sending warning letters to 37 voice providers demanding immediate action to stop illegal robocalls being routed through their networks.
“Today’s announcement is the latest step taken in our task force’s efforts to address intrusive and illegal robocalls that plague Illinoisans,” Raoul said. “I will continue to work closely with my fellow attorneys general and the FCC to protect Illinois consumers and ensure all telecom companies play by the rules.”
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The telecom providers being sent warning letters have failed to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules on responding to government traceback requests. They also have failed to register in the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database or to file a plan describing how they will reduce illegal robocalls on their network. By disregarding these simple rules, the companies are allowing robocallers into their phone networks and then passing those calls on to other downstream providers until they reach the phones of Illinois residents.
Raoul and the task force are also sending letters to 99 downstream providers that accept call traffic from the 37 companies, warning those companies they are doing business with bad actors that are not willing to follow rules that apply to all providers.
In addition, the FCC announced on Wednesday that seven of these providers will be removed from the Robocall Mitigation Database, which means that other providers will no longer be allowed to accept and route any calls from their networks.
The voice service providers receiving warning letters are Advantage Investors LLC, Alpha Stream, Ananya Traders LLC, Ariyan Khan, BBT Voice Private Limited, Belthrough, BPO VoIP, Collection 3 LLC, Communications and Telephone Systems Co., Dial Vista Corp., DigitalOcean LLC, Dtel Network LLC, End Zone Financial Services, EON Telecom Inc., Family Communication Inc., Fiber Flux VOIP, First Tele Communications Inc., Flow VOIP LLC, Globe Tech Solutions, Higher Response Marketing Inc., HK KwaiFong Group Limited, Infinity SIP LLC, Lexico Telecom LTD / Lextel LTD, Mexico IP Phones LLC, Nexusphere VOIP LLC, Pleedex LLC, Quantum Link VOIP LLC, Ringnition, SK Teleco LLC, SkyPulse VOIP, Stacy Newsome LNCC LCC, Telnextrix LLC, Terra Voip, TheVisionConnect, Tiera Enterprises LLC, Voip Torque, and Whisl Telecom LLC / Telconus / Telcon US / Telcon Voice.
In 2022, 51 attorneys general joined forces to create the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The Task Force investigates and takes legal action against companies responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the United States.
Attorney General Raoul has been a consistent advocate for protections against illegal robocalls. His office actively investigates and pursues enforcement actions against entities in the robocall ecosystem that are identified as being responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the country. In 2022, Raoul joined a coalition of 33 attorneys general in filing a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending the anti-robocall provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In August 2019, Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from all 50 states and Washington D.C. in partnering with 12 phone companies to create a set of principles for telecom companies to fight robocalls. In June 2019, Raoul, in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, announced a major crackdown on robocalls that included 94 actions targeting operations around the country that were responsible for more than 1 billion calls. Raoul has also submitted comments to the FCC urging the adoption of various proposed rules aimed at cracking down on unwanted telemarketing calls.
