PORTLAND, Maine (AP)   Maine’s independent senator is among a group of lawmakers calling on the Federal Communications Commission’s chairman to do more to combat cellphone fraud.

Sen. Angus King says Chairman Ajit Pai should take action “to protect and educate consumers on the issue of cellphone fraud and to assist victims in understanding their options for recourse.” King has co-sponsored an act designed to cut down on robocalls, and wants Congressional action to protect vulnerable residents from phone scams.

King and other senators told Pai there is a rise in the number of scammers who open a cellphone account in a consumer’s name or illegally clone a consumer’s phone to control messages and data. They say there were reportedly 680,000 victims last year, and that was a 78 % increase from 2017.