(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s Attorney General is joining others in nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. A-G spokesman, Linn Hicks, says it allows them to combine their efforts into one. “We can work together to look at these reports that we’re getting of robocalls to investigate, to send out subpoenas in some cases, and also prosecute,” Hicks says. Hicks says they are trying to get to the source of the calls.

“So far the task force has issued subpoenas to 20 gateway providers — and these are the, these are the entities that are responsible for bringing foreign calls into the U-S telephone network,” he says. He says it’s their job to make sure that those calls are not illegal, and the Attorney’s General we don’t believe that they’re doing enough to stop the robo traffic.

“In some cases, you know, we’re concerned that they are turning a blind eye just to make sure that they continue to get revenue,” Hicks says. The calls can be annoying — but they also target people with scams — and Hicks says the task force is concerned about preventing that from happening.

“People fall for those robo calls and if they provide money or information, it’s very difficult to get that money back or to make things right, ” Hicks says. It’s estimated there are some 33 million robo calls nationwide. And those callers scam millions from Americans every year.