Attorney General James Urges Federal Government to Strengthen Rules to Stop Illegal Robocalls

July 8, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 other attorneys general in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt new measures to combat illegal robocallsalling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt new measures to combat illegal robocalls. In March 2026, FCC released new proposals to strengthen existing regulations to crack down on the growing scourge of illegal robocalls. These calls deliver pre-recorded or artificial voice messages attempting to scam consumers, often by impersonating government agencies or financial companies. These scams cost Americans hundreds of millions of dollars every year, including $789 million in 2024. In a letter to FCC, Attorney General James and the coalition express their support for the agency's new measures and offer additional recommendations to close loopholes and more effectively stop illegal robocalls.

"New Yorkers are getting flooded with predatory robocalls day after day, putting their finances and personal information at risk," said Attorney General James. "My office is committed to tackling the epidemic of robocalls to prevent scammers from taking advantage of working families. I am proud to join this bipartisan coalition providing the federal government with recommendations to help crack down on illegal robocalls."

Rampant robocalls are a source of costly scams and fraud that affect tens of thousands of people every year. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released data showing that consumers reported losing over $12.5 billion to scams in 2024, including through fraudulent calls and texts. YouMail, a mobile service designed to protect users from unwanted calls, reported that in April 2026 alone, consumers in the U.S. received 4.2 billion robocalls, or roughly 1,600 calls per second.

In March 2026, FCC proposed a series of new regulations to increase transparency and reporting requirements for companies that sell phone numbers to reduce the likelihood that scammers obtain numbers they can use for illegal robocalls. The proposed rules focus on expanding numbering certification processes and mandating disclosure from all companies that sell access to phone number logs.

Attorney General James and the coalition recommend FCC take additional measures to help prevent fraud, including:

• Increasing the legal tools available for attorneys general to fight illegal robocalls, including by expanding the definition of telephone number resellers to make it easier to hold illegal robocallers accountable under the law.
• Prohibiting the resale of certain phone numbers to make it harder for scammers to obtain numbers they can use for robocalls.
• Expanding proposed foreign ownership certification requirements to all service providers that assign or sell telephone numbers, making it harder for scammers to hide behind shell corporations.
• Requiring all companies that sell phone numbers and their employees to participate in mandatory education sessions on how to properly use and report their sales of phone numbers to increase transparency and tracking of number sales.

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

Attorney General James is a leader in multistate efforts to crack down on robocalls. In 2022, Attorney General James joined 50 other attorneys general in creating the Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force, which investigates and takes legal action against companies that are responsible for large amounts of robocall traffic. The coalition has acted strongly against robocalls, including in August 2025 when Attorney General James and the task force sent notices to 37 phone providers to stop routing fraudulent calls. In March 2025 Attorney General James and a bipartisan coalition of 27 other attorneys general filed an amicus brief supporting an FCC rule to stop telemarketers from obtaining consumers' phone numbers without their consent. In May 2023 Attorney General James sued Avid Telecom (Avid), its owner Michael Lansky, and its vice president Stacey S. Reeves for routing billions of illegal robocalls nationwide and ignoring repeated warnings to stop. In March 2023 Attorney General James won a lawsuit Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, two notorious conspiracy theorists who used intimidating robocalls to suppress Black voters ahead of the 2020 election.