Utah, federal law enforcement agencies crack down on scam calls

Utah Department of Commerce building Photo: Utah Department of Commerce

SALT LAKE CITY – A new crackdown on illegal telemarketing targeting operations that place billions of calls to American consumers was announced by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, a division of the Utah Department of Commerce, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and other law enforcement partners nationwide, including attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The joint state-federal “Operation Stop Scam Calls” program expands upon the work Utah and other state-federal partners have done to address the problem of unlawful telemarketing, including robocalls.

“Nobody likes the intrusive telemarketing calls that have become a daily plague to us all.  Moreover, illegal telemarketing campaigns expose Utahns to predatory practices and monetary scams at an alarming rate,” said Katie Hass, director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection. 

“The Division is pleased to join the FTC and other states by participating in Operation Stop Scam Calls. Telemarketers operating in Utah are on notice that the Division of Consumer Protection will not tolerate those who harm citizens by violating federal and state laws.”

This initiative targets telemarketers and the businesses that employ them, as well as lead generators that dishonestly compile and distribute consumer phone numbers to robocallers and other callers on the pretense that the recipients have given their agreement to receive calls.

The program will also target Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers who enable tens of billions of unlawful robocalls per year, many of which come from outside of the U.S.

“Today’s action should send a strong message that the FTC will use every tool at its disposal to target not only illegal telemarketers who harass millions of consumers every day with annoying and intrusive calls but anyone else who enables this unlawful conduct,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC and its law enforcement partners will not rest in the fight against illegal telemarketing.”

As part of Operation Stop Scam Calls, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection has taken public action against four companies in the previous 18 months for breaching state and federal laws relating to telemarketing activities. 

Unregistered telephone solicitations, contacts to Do-Not-Call listings, general misrepresentations made in connection with the solicitation, and failure to reveal the seller’s identity were all considered offenses. The Division was successful in obtaining over $800,000 in civil penalties, restitution, damages, and injunctive relief.

The actions taken by Utah build on those of its state and federal allies, including the FTC, which recently announced the filing of five additional lawsuits against businesses and individuals involved in the countrywide distribution of billions of illegal telemarketing calls to consumers.

In addition to the law enforcement actions announced today, the FTC has a variety of materials aimed at helping consumers block unwanted telemarketing calls. This includes advice related to robocalls and other unwanted calls and information on how to spot and avoid phone scams at ftc.gov/calls, which is also available in Spanish at ftc.gov/llamadas. The FTC also has a new educational webpage at ftc.gov/RobocallScams that includes examples of real illegal robocalls.