A pair of states addressed issues with robocalls yesterday, with one touting a new consumer hotline to report scammers while the other admitted that it is investigating fewer than 10% of the robocall complaints it receives from individuals.
North Carolina launched Operation Silver Shield last week, which includes a toll-free number that consumers can call to complain about robocalls or scam calls they have received. The plan is for the North Carolina Attorney General’s office to then investigate the complaints.
“What we want to do is then partner with the phone companies and trace back: Where does this call come from? Where was it originated?” said Josh Stein, the Attorney General of North Carolina, in a report. “The hope is we can identify if these bad actors exist in North Carolina and then we can shut them down.”
However, getting too many complaints may lead to the same situation that is happening in New York. An audit conducted by the state’s Comptroller’s office revealed that only 9% of the 363,000 Do Not Call complaints that have been made were investigated by the state’s Division of Consumer Protection. Nothing happened on more than 320,000 of the complaints that were made in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. The office has been busy trying to fill vacant positions so it can address the backlog of complaints that need to be looked into, according to a published report.
“Governor Cuomo is making New York a leader in thwarting illegal scammers through his comprehensive legislative proposal to enhance call authentication technology and provide better call blocking options to all New Yorkers,” said Erin McCarthy, director of public information for the New York State Department of State, in a statement.
