Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced the start of Phase 2 in Operation Robocall Roundup, an initiative aimed at reducing illegal robocalls. This new phase expands the investigation to include four major voice service providers: Inteliquent, Bandwidth, Lumen, and Peerless. The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which is bipartisan, has instructed these companies to stop transmitting suspected illegal robocalls on their networks.
“These robocalls aren’t just annoying, they’re illegal. People are sick and tired of them, and I’m working with attorneys general around the country to go after the companies responsible,” Attorney General Wilson said. “These robocalls are usually scams that victimize South Carolinians and people across the country.”
Earlier this year, warning letters were sent to 37 smaller voice providers for allowing suspected illegal robocalls onto U.S. telephone networks. The current phase focuses on larger companies that have a significant presence in telecommunications. According to data from industry investigators, Inteliquent received 9,712 traceback notices since 2019 and transmitted an estimated 450 million Amazon/Apple imposter calls and 1.425 billion Social Security Administration (SSA) or IRS imposter calls over three to four years. Bandwidth was linked to over 162 million Amazon/Apple imposter calls and more than 301 million SSA/IRS imposter calls; Peerless had similar figures with over 210 million Amazon/Apple imposter calls and nearly 585 million SSA/IRS imposter calls; Lumen’s network saw more than 261 million Amazon/Apple imposter calls and almost 886 million SSA/IRS imposter calls during the same period.
The chart provided by the Attorney General’s office shows how many traceback notices each company received since 2019—these notices serve as official alerts when a company transmits a call tied to a suspected illegal campaign—and estimates of scam call volumes routed through their systems.
As large-scale providers, these companies are expected to block call traffic from known bad actors but have continued routing suspicious robocalls despite repeated warnings from industry groups.
Phase one of Operation Robocall Roundup resulted in rapid changes after warning letters were issued:
“We’re all sick and tired of these robocalls, and you can see from those numbers what we’re fighting against. But our efforts so far are reducing that volume, and we expect our continued work to bring it down even further,” Attorney General Wilson said.
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force was formed in 2022 by attorneys general from across the country to investigate and take legal action against companies responsible for high volumes of fraudulent or illegal robocall traffic within the United States.
