Virginia AG joins effort seeking stronger federal rules against illegal robocalls

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has joined attorneys general from 48 other jurisdictions in asking the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen requirements intended to prevent illegal robocalls from entering the nation's telephone network.

The coalition is seeking stronger “Know Your Upstream Provider” requirements, which govern how voice-service providers vet companies whose calls they transmit. The attorneys general argue that stronger requirements could make it more difficult for scammers to route illegal calls through intermediary providers.

The effort follows recent FCC enforcement action involving six companies that were ordered to address deficiencies in their robocall protections or risk losing the ability to route calls through the U.S. telephone network.

“The FCC must do its part to protect Virginians. When illegal robocalls and texts slip through the system and reach consumers, the cost is too high. We must build a stronger safety net, and that involves holding service providers accountable,” said Jones.  

The FCC requires all voice service providers to take reasonable measures to vet the phone companies that originate and route calls, but some voice service providers fail to do so, allowing illegal robocalls onto the U.S. communications network. Last year, Americans received more than 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts and lost nearly $2 billion to these scams, according to Jones' office.