Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced the top concern that Iowans shared with her at the Iowa State Fair. Throughout the fair, Attorney General Bird met with Iowans at her office’s booth to answer questions and learn about the issues they care about most. Iowans also wrote thank you notes to law enforcement.
The most common problem Iowans reported was receiving an influx of robocalls and scam calls. In May, Attorney General Bird announced a lawsuit against Avid Telecom for facilitating billions of illegal robocalls in the United States. Since 2019, about 9,000 of these calls have targeted Iowa alone, where scammers have used fake or invalid caller IDs and impersonated law enforcement.
“Not only are scam calls annoying, but they are illegal,” said Attorney General Bird. “All too often, scammers take advantage of ‘Iowa nice’ and manipulate people’s emotions for money. We want to make sure Iowans know that we are here to help. Whether it’s a question about avoiding scams, financial abuse, or other problems, we’re only one phone call away.”
During the Iowa State Fair, Iowans expressed a variety of concerns and problems, including Facebook hacking, elder financial abuse, scams, telemarketing, credit reporting problems, construction and home improvement issues, and deceptive advertising. In cases where concerns fell outside the responsibilities of the Iowa Attorney General’s office, staff worked to connect Iowans with the appropriate government agencies or contacts.
The Iowa Attorney General’s office’s Consumer Protection Division can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 888-777-4590.
Iowans can also find tips on how to avoid scams or fill out a complaint form with the office here.
