Virginia Joins Bipartisan Push for Stronger Rules to Fight Illegal Robocalls

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general calling on federal regulators to tighten rules designed to keep illegal robocalls and scam messages from reaching consumers.

Jones and attorneys general from 48 other states and jurisdictions are urging the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its “Know Your Upstream Provider,” or KYUP, requirements. The rules are intended to make telephone service providers more accountable for the companies whose calls they accept and route through the U.S. communications network.

“The FCC must do its part to protect Virginians,” Jones said. “When illegal robocalls and texts slip through the system and reach consumers, the cost is too high. We must build a stronger safety net, and that involves holding service providers accountable.”

A phone call can travel through several companies before reaching the recipient. Current FCC rules require voice service providers to take reasonable measures to vet the companies that originate and route calls.

The attorneys general argue that some providers are failing to conduct adequate checks, allowing large numbers of illegal or suspicious calls to enter the network.

According to figures cited by the coalition, Americans received more than 29.6 billion scam robocalls and texts last year and lost nearly $2 billion to those scams.

The coalition wants the FCC to establish stronger baseline requirements for telephone companies dealing with upstream providers. Those requirements would include collecting more detailed and verified information about companies sending calls into their networks.

Providers would also be expected to check whether those companies comply with FCC rules, monitor them regularly, and refuse or terminate service when an upstream provider fails to follow the law.

The attorneys general are also asking for more frequent monitoring.

Under current requirements described by the coalition, a provider generally reviews an upstream company when entering into or renewing an agreement or when it receives evidence suggesting that the upstream provider may be violating the law.

The coalition argues that more regular reviews could identify questionable operators sooner and prevent them from continuing to send illegal calls unchecked.

Caller ID Spoofing Also Targeted

Another part of the proposal involves strengthening protections under STIR/SHAKEN, a system developed to combat caller ID spoofing.

Spoofing occurs when information displayed on a person’s caller ID is manipulated to make a call appear to come from a different number. Scammers may use the tactic to disguise where a call originates or make it appear more trustworthy.

The attorneys general want the FCC to make sure providers understand and follow their caller ID authentication responsibilities throughout the path a telephone call takes before reaching a consumer.

They are also calling for the FCC to implement any new rules quickly and establish penalties for companies that fail to meet upstream monitoring requirements or violate STIR/SHAKEN requirements.

Another proposal would require providers to retain information collected during their KYUP verification and monitoring. That information could then be available to law enforcement agencies and state attorneys general during future investigations.

Part of Broader Robocall Crackdown

Virginia is also participating in the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, which launched Operation Robocall Roundup in 2025.

During the first phase of the operation, the task force sent warning letters to 37 smaller voice providers that it said were failing to meet certain FCC requirements intended to reduce the origination and transmission of illegal or suspicious robocalls.

According to the attorney general’s office, the FCC recently ordered six of those companies to correct problems with their robocall protections or risk losing their ability to route calls across the U.S. telephone network.

The second phase expanded the effort to four of the nation’s largest intermediate voice service providers.

The task force has also asked the FCC to strengthen separate “Know Your Customer” requirements. Those proposals would require phone companies to verify who is using their networks to make calls and determine what kind of business those customers are conducting.

Jones’s office said the latest request has broad bipartisan support. In addition to Virginia, attorneys general representing Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 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, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming signed the letter.

The coalition’s request now puts the issue before the FCC as state attorneys general continue pressing telephone companies and federal regulators to close pathways used to deliver illegal robocalls.

For consumers, the goal is straightforward: make it more difficult for scam operations to get onto the telephone network in the first place, rather than relying only on efforts to stop fraudulent calls after they are already being made.