Attorney General Aaron M. Frey has announced the beginning of Phase 2 of Operation Robocall Roundup, which will focus on investigating four major voice service providers: Inteliquent, Bandwidth, Lumen, and Peerless. This action is part of an ongoing effort by the bipartisan Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force to address illegal robocalls in the United States.
The Task Force has instructed these companies to stop transmitting suspected illegal robocalls through their networks. According to Attorney General Frey, “Robocalls continue to be one of the most common ways that scammers reach out to Mainers. While many of the actors themselves are beyond the reach of Maine or U.S. law, my colleagues and I are requiring these companies to take responsibility for the calls they are allowing through their networks.”
Earlier this year, warning letters were sent to 37 smaller voice providers as part of Phase 1 of the operation. The new phase shifts attention to larger companies that play a significant role in routing calls across U.S. telephone systems. These four providers have been linked with transmitting hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of suspected illegal robocalls.
Industry data shows that each company has received numerous traceback notices since 2019—official alerts indicating involvement in suspected illegal robocall campaigns. The investigation also highlights specific scam categories such as fake Amazon, Apple, Social Security, or IRS calls moving through these networks.
As larger entities within the telecommunications sector, Inteliquent, Bandwidth, Lumen, and Peerless are considered to have greater responsibility for monitoring call traffic from known bad actors. Despite repeated warnings and industry notifications over several years, these companies reportedly continue to allow large volumes of suspicious calls onto American phone lines.
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force was established in 2022 by 51 attorneys general from across the country and is led by North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. The group investigates and takes legal action against those responsible for substantial amounts of illegal or fraudulent robocall activity nationwide.
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