JACKSON — Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is joining attorneys general from 48 other states and territories in asking the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen rules designed to keep illegal robocalls from reaching consumers.
The coalition is asking the FCC to strengthen its “Know Your Upstream Provider” requirements, which require phone service providers to make sure the companies sending calls into their networks are legitimate and following federal rules.
“We are working hard to protect you from invasive, annoying, and potentially dangerous robocalls and texts,” Fitch said. “Attorneys General are on the front line of enforcement in our states and our recommendations to the FCC will give us more tools to stop these calls before they reach your phone.”
The attorneys general want the FCC to require phone providers to collect and verify more information about the companies they work with, more closely monitor whether those companies follow federal rules and cut off providers that repeatedly violate the law.
They are also asking the FCC to strengthen STIR/SHAKEN, a system designed to help prevent callers from disguising their phone numbers.
The coalition also wants the FCC to establish penalties for providers that fail to meet the requirements and require companies to keep records of their efforts to verify and monitor upstream providers. Those records could later be used by law enforcement and attorneys general investigating illegal robocalls.
The letter is the third in a series of requests from the coalition seeking stronger federal rules to prevent scammers from using the U.S. telephone network.
The push follows an FCC order issued two weeks ago against six companies over robocall protection problems. The companies were ordered to address the issues or risk losing their ability to route calls through the U.S. telephone network.
Fitch’s office said it has sent 275 traceback requests and 88 subpoenas since Jan. 1, resulting in 92 robocallers being terminated.
Mississippi residents can also report unwanted robocalls and texts through the attorney general’s AGO in Action mobile app.
Fitch was joined on the letter by attorneys general from 48 other states and jurisdictions, including Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.
