AGs announce agreement to crack down on robocalls

Most recorded robocalls from unknown numbers are illegal. Studies have shown they're on the rise.

• Katie Meyer
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

(Harrisburg) – Pennsylvania’s attorney general is touting an agreement he and other attorneys general have made with a number of the country’s biggest phone companies.

It’s aimed at cracking down on unwanted robocalls.

Not all robocalls are illegal.

But many are—particularly ones from unknown numbers trying to sell people things without their consent.

And studies have shown they’re on the rise.

As Congress works on a package of bills aimed at curtailing the calls, attorneys general in all 50 states — including Pennsylvania — and Washington DC have announced a victory on an initiative of their own.

They’ve agreed to a voluntary memorandum of understanding with 12 of the biggest phone companies in the country.

The companies have agreed to offer free call-blocking to customers and technology that can authenticate callers, plus monitor robocalls more actively.

They’ll also help law enforcement identify and track robocallers.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said part of the reason he’s pursuing the issue is because people in the commonwealth have told him how annoying robocalls are.

Plus, he said, the calls are “not simply an annoyance—they are illegal, and they are used to take advantage of our seniors and other vulnerable populations.”

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