Robocall Complaints Down, Maybe Due to Agency Coordination, Pai Says

The FCC and FTC have had "a notable decrease" in robocall complaints in recent months, maybe due to the agencies' work over the spring with DOJ and USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group on COVID-19 robocall scams originating overseas, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Tom Carper, D-Del., in letters dated Aug. 6 and released Thursday. Pai said FTC complaints in April were down 68% from April 2019 numbers, and May numbers were down 60% year over year. He said the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau received 7,600 unwanted call complaints in April 2020 and 9,000 in May 2020, compared with 37,800 over the first three months of the year. He acknowledged it's often difficult to tell if the consumers are receiving specifically COVID-19 pandemic-related scam calls. The letters were in response to the senators urging a crackdown on COVID-19 robocall scams (see 2006260067).