Washington (CNN Business) The US government announced a nationwide crackdown on illegal robocalls on Tuesday, targeting companies and individuals who have collectively placed over 1 billion unwanted calls for financial schemes and other services, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The crackdown involves nearly 100 cases, five of which are criminal enforcement actions. They were brought by the FTC, Justice Department, 15 states and a slew of local authorities.

It marks the latest effort by regulators to battle back the tide of unwanted and illegal calls from telemarketers and scammers

Some of those targeted by the action were a major source of robocalls . Derek Jason Bartoli, a Florida man who allegedly developed, sold and used a form of software that allows millions of calls to be placed in quick succession, was responsible for 57 million calls to US phone numbers over six months in 2017, according to a federal complaint

"By putting people like Derek Bartoli out of business, we are able to deprive the robocallers of the important tools of their trade," said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, in a press conference Tuesday.

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