LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge was successful in getting the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) to allow phone companies to block illegal robocalls. In July, Rutledge, and 29 other states, signed a letter urging the FCC to adopt these rules.
“This decision from the FCC is a major victory for Arkansas consumers,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “I know that Arkansans are tired of the unwanted calls and they want them to stop. This rule change will help that become a reality and will also help save thousands of dollars that many consumers are deceived into giving to the con artists on the other end of these calls.”
Regulatory roadblocks had prevented telecommunications companies from blocking many illegal robocalls. This new rule will allow providers to block calls coming from invalid numbers, unassigned numbers and numbers whose owners have requested be blocked. For example, phone providers would be able to block a scammer that is using a telephone number that clearly cannot exist because it has not been assigned by a telephone provider to a user.