State Law Aims to End Robocalls, Spoofing, Unsolicited Calls and Texts; Enforcement Limited

With certain exceptions, Connecticut state law prohibits telephone solicitors from making unsolicited sales calls, including sending texts and media messages, to consumers on the state “Do Not Call” registry, unless they receive a consumer’s prior express written consent, according to the Office of Legislative Research (OLR).  

“Do Not Call” violations are generally subject to a fine of up to $20,000 per violation and deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice, under state law.

Regardless of whether a consumer is on the registry, solicitors may only send, or cause to be sent, text or media messages for marketing or soliciting sales of consumer goods if the solicitor has received the consumer’s prior express written consent.  (There are certain exceptions for telecommunications companies texting their customers.) As with telephone calls, violations by text are subject to a fine of up to $20,000 per violation and deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice, according to a summary of state laws prepared last fall by OLR.

In regards to robocalls, regardless of whether a consumer is on the registry, the law generally prohibits solicitors, without express written consent, from making unsolicited, automatically dialed, recorded telephonic calls  - widely known as robocalls - for sales purposes. Here again, violations are subject to a fine of up to $20,000 per violation and deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice.  Another state law makes it a violation, subject to a fine of up to $1,000, to robocall a consumer for any commercial, business, or advertising purpose.

An increasingly common practice, spoofing, also falls under state law.  Regardless of whether a consumer is on the Do Not Call registry, it is a class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to 364 days imprisonment, up to a $1,000 fine, or both) for a person to intentionally use a blocking device or service to circumvent a consumer’s caller identification service or device (“spoofing”) to transmit a robocall. Spoofing for purposes other than a robocall is also prohibited and deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice.

The OLR report also outlined enforcement challenges in responding to laws related to spoofing, robocalls, and unsolicited texts and calls.  According to the state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), the agency lacks the jurisdiction to pursue most telemarketers that contact Connecticut residents because they often call from outside the United States, and many spoof their number, making it hard to determine who is actually calling.

The Department has previously noted in correspondence that because of these jurisdictional challenges, the issue is more easily addressed at the federal level. The federal response remains a work in progress. 

The full OLR report can be seen here.