Feds and Colorado AG Join in Fight Against Scam Calls

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new initiative called “Operation Stop Scam Calls.” As part of the effort, the FTC is teaming up with more than 100 agencies and attorneys general nationwide. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office is among them. AG Phil Weiser said Operation Stop Scam Calls is designed to “crack down on the scourge of illegal robocalls” and the combined forces in the operation “are committed to holding accountable bad actors that bombard Americans with billions of robocalls to scam consumers out of their money and private data.” The initiative will go after not only the telemarketers themselves but also the lead generators who deceptively collect and provide consumers’ telephone numbers. In one recent year, scam callers ripped off over $1 billion nationally from victims age 65+, with an average loss of just over $9,000 (some victims lost 10 times that amount). The FTC claims to have handled hundreds of cases against illegal robocallers, assessing cumulative penalties of more than $2 billion and returning almost $400 million to affected consumers. Operation Stop Scam Calls hopes to eliminate more scams before they happen. You can learn more about avoiding scam calls and also sign up for the Do Not Call Registry at https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-stop-unwanted-calls.