Golden State Today

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined forces with 28 other attorneys general to support a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule aimed at curbing unwanted robocalls and robotexts. The rule, currently under scrutiny in the case of Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, seeks to close a loophole that allows lead generators to mislead consumers into consenting to calls from numerous companies.

"Everyone hates robocalls," said Attorney General Bonta. "Robocalls continue to top the list of most frequent consumer complaints across the country, and their annihilation continues to be a nationwide, bipartisan effort."

The proposed regulation would require telemarketers and lead generators to obtain specific consent from consumers before making robocalls or selling their contact information. This consent must be obtained on a one-to-one basis, ensuring that consumers are not overwhelmed by calls from multiple entities without explicit permission.

In 2023 alone, fraudulent phone calls and texts resulted in over $1.2 billion in reported financial losses nationwide, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Robocalls remain the leading consumer complaint each year.

Attorney General Bonta is actively involved in efforts against illegal robocalls as part of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force. This task force includes 51 bipartisan attorneys general who pursue legal action against those responsible for significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic.

In recent actions, Attorney General Bonta has sent warning letters to telecom companies transmitting suspected illegal robocall traffic and submitted comments supporting FCC rules designed to enhance consumer protection against such calls.

Additionally, in May 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a coalition of 49 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Avid Telecom for allegedly facilitating billions of unlawful robocalls involving various scams.

By submitting this brief, Attorney General Bonta aligns with his counterparts from states including Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina among others.

A copy of the brief is available for public access.