Attorney General Cameron Urges FCC to Adopt Measures Reducing Illegal International Robocalls

Adopt measures to reduce the number of illegal international robocalls,

FRANKFORT, Ky. (January 10, 2022) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to adopt measures to reduce the number of illegal international robocalls, which often lead to scam attempts on Kentuckians. The comment letter to the FCC was joined by a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general.

“Illegal robocalls lead to frustration for Kentucky consumers and are often scam attempts that can result in significant financial losses,” said Attorney General Cameron. “Joining this letter is one part of our concentrated effort to protect Kentuckians from the harm associated with fraudulent calls, and I am grateful to my fellow attorneys general for partnering with us on this initiative.”

In their letter, the coalition calls for the FCC to require gateway providers – the companies that allow foreign calls into the United States – to take steps to reduce the number of robocalls that enter the U.S. telephone network. The attorneys general recommend gateway providers be required to implement STIR/SHAKEN anti-robocall protocols, a caller ID authentication technology that helps prevent spoofed calls, within 30 days of the FCC’s adoption of the rule. This deadline will help eliminate spoofed calls and ensure international calls that originate from U.S. telephone numbers are legitimate.

In their letter, the attorneys general ask the FCC to require gateway providers to take the following measures to reduce robocalls:

• Respond to requests from law enforcement, state attorneys general, or the FCC to trace back calls within 24 hours.
• Block calls when providers are aware of an illegal or likely fraudulent caller.
• Block calls that originate from numbers that are on a “do not originate” list – such as government phone numbers that are for incoming calls only.
• Require their foreign telephone company partners to ensure calls are made from legitimate numbers.

The attorneys general also encourage the FCC to require all phone companies to block calls from a gateway provider, if it fails to meet these requirements.

This is the latest action by Attorney General Cameron to reduce illegal robocalls. In November, he joined a coalition of 51 attorneys general in sending a letter to the FCC supporting the agency’s efforts to reduce the access that illegal robocallers’ have to legitimate phone numbers.  In response to the letter, the FCC shortened the deadline for smaller telephone companies to implement STIR/SHAKEN.

Attorney General Cameron continues to work with other states through the Robocall Working Group and U.S. Telecom’s Internet Traceback Group to identify and stop scammers.

Attorney General Cameron was joined by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming in sending the letter to the FCC.

A copy of the letter is available here.