A bipartisan coalition of 51 state attorneys general has entered Phase 2 of “Operation Robocall Roundup,” directing four of the largest voice providers in the country – Inteliquent, Bandwidth, Lumen, and Peerless – to stop transmitting suspected illegal robocalls across their networks.
The action comes from the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, led by the attorneys general of North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio, which has been investigating providers that allegedly carried large volumes of fraudulent traffic tied to imposter and scam campaigns.
Letters sent to each company detail years of traceback notices and staggering estimates of scam calls allegedly routed through their systems, including Amazon/Apple and SSA/IRS imposter campaigns:
- Inteliquent: at least 9,712 traceback notices since 2019 and estimates that it facilitated about 450 million Amazon/Apple imposter calls and 1.425 billion SSA/IRS imposter calls.
- Bandwidth: at least 3,060 traceback notices and estimates of 162.7 million Amazon/Apple and 301 million SSA/IRS imposter robocalls.
- Peerless: at least 5,662 traceback notices and estimates of 210.7 million Amazon/Apple and 585.3 million SSA/IRS imposter robocalls.
- Lumen: at least 7,265 traceback notices and estimates of 261.5 million Amazon/Apple and 886.2 million SSA/IRS imposter robocalls.
Traceback notices, issued by USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group, indicate a provider carried traffic tied to suspected illegal robocall campaigns. The task force letters say each traced call represents a much larger campaign, suggesting these providers helped enable significant volumes of scam traffic to reach consumers despite years of warnings.
The notices also remind the companies that originating or transmitting illegal robocalls can violate the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Truth in Caller ID Act, and state consumer protection laws, exposing providers to potential damages, civil penalties, and injunctions.
Earlier this year, Phase 1 targeted 37 smaller providers. After warning letters went out, regulators report:
- 13 companies were removed from the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database, cutting off their traffic.
- 19 companies stopped appearing in traceback results.
- At least four providers terminated high-risk customer accounts that were allegedly sending illegal traffic.
For the credit and collection industry, the shift into Phase 2 is a clear signal that AGs are increasingly willing to scrutinize core telecom infrastructure, not just fringe VoIP shops, when chasing the sources of illegal calls and texts.
Read the letters send to Lumen, Peerless, Bandwidth, and Inteliquent
