Attorney General Anne Lopez, alongside a bipartisan coalition of 46 attorneys general, has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enhance its Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD). The call for action aims to address a loophole that allows bad actors to access the U.S. telephone network.
“While we work to identify and reduce the amount of illegal robocalls that plague everyone, scammers continue to find new ways to bombard people with these illegal calls and texts,” stated Attorney General Lopez. She expressed her support for efforts to strengthen the database and prevent harmful call traffic from entering the network.
The FCC requires providers to register on its database in order to operate as voice service providers in the United States. However, since its inception in 2021, the database has been ineffective at preventing bad actors from acquiring legitimate registrations for sending illegal robocalls through the network. Companies have submitted unverified information without facing consequences for inaccuracies or misleading data.
The attorneys general are urging the FCC to reinforce the database by clarifying submission requirements for providers, setting deadlines, validating submitted data, penalizing false submissions by denying operational authorization, and blocking non-compliant providers. These proposed changes aim to make it more difficult for bad actors to infiltrate the U.S. telephone network and reduce illegal robocalls reaching American consumers.
Attorney General Lopez is part of the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force, which investigates and enforces actions against entities responsible for significant volumes of fraudulent robocall traffic across the country.
Consumers are advised that if they receive an illegal call or text, they can report it via www.donotcall.gov or file a complaint with Hawaiʻi's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The FCC also provides resources for identifying unwanted communications.
Joining Attorney General Lopez in this initiative are attorneys general from numerous states including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado among others as well as representatives from Washington D.C.