are undermining the value of our telephone system. reporter: most of the calls come from overseas and tracing them is a fairly new technology so up to now, authorities have struggled to stop them and the callers that do get caught often go right back to scamming according to an fcc official. so authorities are turning attention to the gateway providers. the telecom companies that let those robocalls onto the u.s. phone network. specifically those that we believe may be turning a blind eye to these kind of calling scams. reporter: when a call comes from overseas, typically several small carriers get paid to pass it along. they are using trace back to identify the original source of the illegal calls and agencies like the fcc can order the rest of the industry to stop doing business with those carriers. if there are not this tier of
all of these unwanted robocalls are undermining the value of our telephone system. most of the calls come from overseas and tracing them is a fairly new technology, so up to now, authorities have struggled to stop them, and the callers that do get caught often go right back to scamming, according to an fcc official. so authorities are turning attention to the gateway providers, the telecom companies that let those robocalls onto the u.s. phone network. specifically those that we believe may be turning a blind eye to these kind of calling scams. reporter: when a call comes from overseas, typically several small carriers get paid to pass it along before it reaches your cell. investigators are using a technique called trace backs to identify the original source of these illegal calls. then agencies like the fcc can order the rest of the industry to stop doing business with those carriers. if there are not this tier of
reporter: so now ohio attorney general gdave yost is suing them and their associates for potential millions of dollars. enough to take back everything they ve made. if a slap on the wrist doesn t work, punch them in the face and knock them down. can you consider criminal charges here? criminal charges are not off the table. reporter: yost is part of an anti-robocall task force, toernls general from almost every state working with federal officials to ramp up illegal robocall enforcement. in 2021 americans received an estimated 21 billion scam robocalls costs them nearly $40 billion in a 12-month period. usually very hard to find the callers. all of these unwanted robocalls are undermining the value of our telephone system. reporter: most of the calls come from overseas and tracing them is a fairly new technology. so up to now authorities have struggled to stop themcallers tn