Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with a bipartisan group of 46 Attorneys General, has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enhance its Robocall Mitigation Database. The call to action aims to close loopholes that allow bad actors to exploit the U.S. telephone network.
"Idaho citizens are no strangers to the plague of fraudulent robo-call and texts," said Attorney General Labrador. "We need to strengthen our processes and tighten the access to our nation’s telecommunication network. I’m calling on the FCC to protect all Americans and our critical infrastructure."
The issue of illegal robocalls remains prevalent, as scammers continually develop new methods for reaching Americans with unwanted calls and texts. Currently, voice service providers must register in the FCC's database to operate in the United States. However, since its launch in 2021, this database has not effectively prevented bad actors from obtaining legitimate registrations for sending illegal robocalls.
The coalition is urging the FCC to implement stricter measures within the database system. This includes clarifying what information providers need to submit, setting submission deadlines, validating submitted data for accuracy, penalizing false or inadequate submissions by denying operational authorization, and blocking non-compliant providers.
If these changes are adopted, it could become more challenging for unauthorized parties to access the U.S. telephone network and potentially reduce illegal robocalls.
Attorney General Labrador is an active member of the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force and continues efforts against entities responsible for significant volumes of fraudulent robocall traffic nationwide.
Joining Attorney General Labrador are his counterparts from states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming as well as Washington D.C.