51 Attorneys General ask FCC for protections against robotexts

ST PAUL (Valley News Live) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined 51 attorneys general — from every state and the District of Columbia — in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the FCC’s proposal to help cut down on unwanted text messages. The proposal would require mobile wireless providers to block texts from invalid, unassigned, or unused numbers, and from numbers on a Do Not Originate (DNO) list.

“Phone scams are a large and complex problem that it will take all law enforcement across the country working together to solve,” Attorney General Ellison said. “Minnesotans are polite people, but these folks aren’t: they’re scammers who are out to defraud you and steal your money. They don’t deserve your politeness. And if you have fallen victim, please contact my office: we may be able to help you and others like you.”

Officials say scammers are shifting from robocalling to robotexting after many states have started cracking down on spam calls. In 2021, the FCC received more than 15,000 consumer complaints about unwanted texts and, in 2020, scammers stole more than $86 million through frauds perpetrated via scam text messages.

State officials are also asking the FCC to continue pushing the wireless industry to develop call authentication technology for text messages so people can know if the texts they receive are from spoofed numbers and law enforcement can investigate where these texts are coming from.

A copy of the letter to the FCC is available on Attorney General Ellison’s website.

If you have received scam robotexts or robocalls or been victimized by them, you can file a complaint at (800) 657-3787 (Greater Minnesota), or online.