PA Attorney General Working To Take Down Phone Scammers
PENNSYLVANIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania's Attorney General is appealing to the FCC and the US Senate to take down phone scammers who are bilking senior citizens out of millions of dollars annually.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro says the robocallers and scammers are sophisticated enough to bypass "Do Not Call" list restrictions and use electronic techniques to hide their true identity.
"It would appear that they're coming from your neighborhood when, in fact, they're not," Shapiro said.
Shapiro and attorneys general from 29 other states are appealing to the FCC to allow phone companies to block the calls.
Right now, he says, the scammers - some from outside the country -have been profiting to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars from preying on senior citizens.
"What we're seeing out there is that the dramatic number of calls that are made - even though a small percentage of them are successful - still lead to many seniors being hit by these scammers," said Shapiro.
Shapiro testified recently before the Senate Aging Committee in Washington urging its members to join him in appealing to the FCC for help in stopping what investigators lablel "spoof calls."