51 attorneys push to stop robocalls

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - Robocalls aren’t just pesky, they are technically illegal.

“It’s illegal. It’s annoying, and it results in a lot of criminal activity and people lose a lot of money,” says Attorney General Tong.

Tong is now leading a coalition of 51 attorneys general calling on the Federal Communication Commission to crack down on telephone providers.

“To force these companies to use technology known as stir shaken technology,” says Tong.

You might not even know what stir shaken technology is, but you’ve probably seen it. University of New Haven Professor Vahid Behzadan says every time you see scam likely, or spam risk pop up on your phone, stir shaken technology is behind it.

“To make sure that the phone number you are receiving is a call that it authentic and traceable,” says Behzadan.

While robocalls are illegal, it’s tricky to catch the perpetrators because most of these calls come from outside of the U.S.

Some foreign governments do not crack down on these types of calls, and some governments are even helping to grow this robocall scam market.

While this problem is not going away anytime soon, there are ways to help cut down on these calls.

Experts recommend not picking up the phone if you get a call from an unknown number.

If you pick up the phone and the caller claim to be from a company, hang up, look up the company’s listed phone numbers, and call them back.

Lastly, register your numbers in the national Do Not Call Registry.

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