With National Consumer Protection Week in full swing, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel is turning the spotlight on her office's efforts to combat the plague of illegal robocalls pestering residents. Despite a steady barrage of these unsolicited calls, recent stats from the FTC’s 2024 Do Not Call Data Book show a consistent filing of 32,647 complaints in Michigan, numbers that hold steady with the previous year. While these complaint rates are not markedly different from 2023, it's still a drop from the higher numbers seen from 2018 to 2022. This may be a reference to Nessel’s efforts to combat robocalls and her work with the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, as detailed by the AG's office.
“Few things are more annoying, intrusive, and unwelcome than robocalls,” Nessel said in the press release. Her robust Robocall Crackdown Team’s mission is to shield citizens and throttle the flow of these irksome calls. The Department of Attorney General, under her initiative since 2019, has received over 14,000 robocall complaints. Although the attorney general's office did not witness an increase in robocall complaints in 2024, billions of these calls continue to be a scourge each year, and many people still fall prey to scam artists.
The Attorney General has been proactive far beyond Michigan's borders. Last December, Nessel took action against four voice service providers and iDentidad Telecom, warning them about transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic. Alongside her partners on the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, she also issued a warning to a company accused of dispatching scam election robocalls in New Hampshire. Further illustrating her dedication to this fight, Nessel joined a coalition of 26 attorneys general in 2024 that favored strict federal restrictions on the use of AI by telemarketers, according to the AG's office.
To keep residents safe from scammer's clutches, Nessel provides some straightforward tips. She advises being skeptical of callers demanding payment via gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency and to be on high-alert for prerecorded calls impersonating government agencies. She recommends hanging up immediately and not providing any personal info if you suspect fraudulent activity. For those besieged by unwanted calls, the Department of Attorney General provides an online complaint form where grievances about robocalls can be lodged.
