There are already laws in place that make robocalls illegal, but the calls keep coming. That's why two Arkansas lawmakers are sponsoring bills to prevent some and hold those callers more liable. With these bills, robocallers could face felony charges in Arkansas and phone companies would have more responsibility to stop the robocalls from ever going through.
“It’s pretty eerie to get a phone call from your own home number to your personal phone," said Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R).
Dismang is sponsoring a bill initiated by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Senate bill 514 passed unanimously in the senate and now heads to the house. It would raise the penalty for robocallers from a misdemeanor to a felony, including spoofing, which is a call from a familiar number to trick you into answering.
"We do not have anything in the books in regards to spoofing so it creates a new offense," said Dismang.
Still, that doesn't stop the calls. Especially when they're out of state or country, the origin of the call is hard to trace. That's why the bill would also hold phone providers more liable, by encouraging them to use technology to prevent the calls from ever going through.
“That’s where the technology comes into play and if they’re not utilizing what’s available or what is to become available, then we’re really not able to do what we need to do to crack down," Dismang said.
Meanwhile Senator Trent Garner also has several bills. He wants to establish an Arkansas Telephone Privacy Protection Act.
"So the people of Arkansas get some privacy from people who want to call them, scam them, and bother them," Garner said.
He also wants to create a Call Blocking Act, which would encourage phone providers to block illegal calls.
"AT&T and these other companies, they have the tools right now to stop these calls," Garner said.
Right now you can report robocalls to the attorney general's office, but often they’re still hard to trace and prosecute. To sign up for the ‘do not call registry’ and see more tips on preventing robocalls, click here.