Nov 1, 2021 - News

Crist wants spam callers jailed

Illustration of an incoming call spam notification on a phone behind prison bars

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist asked the Department of Justice to prioritize punishment for spam callers and consider putting them in jail.

Driving the news: The St. Petersburg Democrat sent a letter to the DOJ last week in light of its report on the success of Crist's Spam Calls Task Force.

  • The task force has reduced the number of robocalls by hundreds of millions per month after it was signed into law in January 2020, Crist's office said in a statement.
  • It also led to the State Attorneys General forming a Robocall Technologies Working Group to investigate spam calls at a local level.

The big picture: Spam phone calls aren't just a Florida problem. A hiker in Colorado was stranded on a mountain overnight last week after he didn't pick up calls from search and rescue teams thinking they were robocallers.

avatar

Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Tampa Bay.

🌱

Support local journalism by becoming a member.

Learn more

More Tampa Bay stories

No stories could be found

Tampa Baypostcard

Get a free daily digest of the most important news in your backyard with Axios Tampa Bay.

🌱

Support local journalism by becoming a member.

Learn more