TN AG and 46 Attorneys General Call on the FCC to Strengthen Vetting Process to Block Robocallers

TN AG and 46 Attorneys General Call on the FCC to Strengthen Vetting Process to Block Robocallers

NASHVILLE-Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and a bipartisan coalition of 46 attorneys general called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve their Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD) and close what has effectively been an unmonitored loophole that bad actors exploit to access the U.S. telephone network.

"Everyone hates robocalls. And as technology gets more sophisticated, bad actors find new ways to deceive consumers and steal money," said Attorney General Skrmetti. "Tennessee has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from predatory scammers, and we will continue to advocate for policies that fortify consumer protections against robocalls and texts."

The coalition of Attorneys General is calling on the FCC to strengthen the database so providers understand what information they need to submit and have deadlines to submit this information, validate the data providers submit to flag inaccurate or misleading data, penalize providers for submitting false or inadequate information by preventing them from getting authorization to operate and blocking non-compliant providers. If adopted, the proposed changes would make it harder for bad actors to gain access to the entire U.S. telephone network and would stop more illegal robocalls from reaching people in the United States.

Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti is a member of the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force, and this office has been committed to actively investigating and pursuing enforcement actions against entities in the robocall ecosystem that are identified as being responsible for significant volumes of illegal and fraudulent robocall traffic routed into and across the country.

Tennessee is joined in this letter by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, 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, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the letter is available here.

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