Attorney General JB McCuskey among a coalition seeking stronger robocall protections
Attorney General McCuskey seeking stronger robocall protections
Robert Fields | WVOW News
CHARLESTON West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey and a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general are asking the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen rules designed to prevent illegal robocalls from entering the U.S. phone network.
The FCC’s Know Your Upstream Provider requirements direct voice service providers to verify that the companies they receive calls from are legitimate and responsible. The attorneys general say stronger monitoring and enforcement are needed because some providers continue to pass along illegal calls.
The coalition wants the FCC to require more frequent checks of upstream providers, stronger oversight of companies involved in caller ID authentication, and penalties for those who fail to follow the rules. They also want records of provider reviews retained so law enforcement and attorneys general can use them in future investigations.
The letter points to the widespread impact of phone scams. Americans received more than 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts last year and lost nearly two billion dollars to those scams.
McCuskey is part of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which launched Operation Robocall Roundup in 2025. The task force has sent warning letters to smaller providers and expanded its work to some of the country's largest intermediate voice service providers.
Just two weeks ago, the FCC ordered six companies to fix robocall protection problems or risk losing their ability to route calls across the U.S. telephone network.
PHOTO | West Virginia Office of the Attorney General, File
