Robocalls Must Stop As Soon As Possible: Ohio Attorney General

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wants the federal government to take action to stop robocalls now.

A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move up the deadline for all telephone companies to install STIR/SHAKEN, a caller ID technology that weeds out unwelcome calls.

Yost and 50 other attorneys general said robocall companies will continue to take advantage of loopholes until the FCC closes those opportunities.

In 2019, the FCC required all phone companies to add STIR/SHAKEN to their networks. Large companies had to comply by June 2021, while smaller companies had until June 2023.

“If the smaller providers weren’t a big part of the problem, maybe a little more time would be warranted,” Yost said. “But robust enforcement isn’t going to happen until the same rules apply to all of them.”

The attorneys general urged the FCC to bump the small company deadline to June 30, 2022, if not sooner. Small phone companies, the attorneys general explained, “are more often responsible for illegal robocalls, with such providers originating a high and increasing share of illegal robocalls relative to their subscriber base.”

One of the benefits of the STIR/SHAKEN technology is its effectiveness against "spoofing," a technique robocallers use to mimic legitimate phone numbers while calling targets. Yost believes curbing these calls could do more than prevent annoyance for Ohioans — it could also protect older Ohioans from scams.

Ohioans can report unwanted robocalls to the Robocall Enforcement Unit by calling 1-800-282-0515 or visiting OhioProtects.org.