Attorney General Griffin Urges Federal Government to Improve Safeguards to Prevent Illegal Robocalls

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after joining 48 other attorneys general in submitting reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission, urging the FCC to continue to improve its Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD):
“Nearly every Arkansan has experienced the frustration of unwanted robocalls and text messages. But these calls are more than just a nuisance. They are often a gateway for scammers seeking to exploit hardworking Arkansans, steal their personal information and hard-earned money, and rob them of their peace of mind. No Arkansan should have to worry that answering a phone call or opening a text message could put their financial security at risk.
“The FCC requires all telecom service providers in the United States to file key information that is contained within the RMD. Meeting the requirements of the RMD is, in effect, a stamp of approval from the federal government to do business as a telecom service provider. Keeping bad actors out of the RMD will give robocallers fewer ways for their calls to reach Arkansans.

“The bar to be included on the RMD is currently far too low, but the FCC has proposed changes that our coalition supports, and we have enumerated additional measures for the FCC to include. These changes will protect more Americans from robocalls because bad actors will no longer find safe haven in a weak federal screening system.”

In addition to what the FCC is already doing to strengthen the RMD, the attorneys general recommend additional measures, including that the FCC:
• Ensure that all information in the RMD is accurate and complete. The FCC should thoroughly vet all information submitted to the RMD before allowing a provider to appear in the RMD and to start sending call traffic through the network.
• Require additional disclosures. The FCC should require providers to disclose their use of third parties, related entities, the legitimacy of claims of a domestic presence, and access to numbering resources.
• Make it more difficult for bad actors to enter or re-enter the RMD. The attorneys general support the FCC’s proposed methods to suspend or remove bad actors from the RMD, strengthen the filing format and content of robocall mitigation plans, and require that RMD filers provide evidence of solvency.
• Hold providers responsible for all filings done on their behalf. The coalition does not oppose allowing for third-party submissions on behalf of providers to the RMD, as long as providers and their principals are responsible for the information submitted on their behalf.
• Impose additional certification requirements to allow for quicker removal from the RMD when necessary. Providers should be required to certify that they have not submitted false or misleading information, are in compliance with all applicable FCC robocall rules, and will respond within 24 hours to traceback requests.
• Require providers to notify their upstream customers and downstream providers of FCC orders and notices. The FCC should require providers subject to an FCC removal order, suspension, or mandatory blocking order to notify their calling customers of the same. It should further allow the downstream providers of the voice service providers subject to such orders to also notify those same customers that their calls will be blocked if they continue to attempt to send their call traffic through that provider that was issued an FCC order.
• Make historical RMD filings public. The historical data of providers that have been removed from the RMD would be useful to law enforcement and others.
• Implement all proposed rules as soon as possible and maintain RMD obligations in the meantime. If the proposals to strengthen the RMD are adopted, the RMD is set to become a reliable tool to help safeguard the communications network against illegal robocalls, making swift implementation crucial. The FCC should also keep in place all obligations that protect against bad actors until reinforced guardrails are implemented.

Attorney General Griffin is part of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Task Force, which launched Operation Robocall Roundup in 2025.

In phase 1 of the operation, the task force sent warning letters to 37 smaller voice providers that were disregarding their obligations to mitigate the origination and transmission of illegal and/or suspicious robocalls by failing to comply with certain baseline mandates from the FCC. In the last year, the FCC has issued subsequent orders to at least 16 of those companies, ordering them to fix their robocall mitigation issues and/or removing them from the RMD altogether and preventing them from routing any calls across the U.S. telephone network.

In phase 2, the task force:

• Expanded its crackdown to four of the country’s largest intermediate voice service providers.
• Pushed the FCC to strengthen rules that would cut off scammers’ access to legitimate phone numbers.
• Pushed the FCC to strengthen its Know Your Customer rules to require phone companies to verify who is making calls using their networks and what kinds of business their customers are conducting.
• Pushed the FCC to strengthen its Know Your Upstream Provider rules to require voice service providers to ensure that they receive calls from legitimate and responsible providers and don’t route high volumes of illegal calls.

Attorney General Griffin is joined in submitting the reply comments by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, 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, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

To read a copy of the reply comments, click here.

To download a PDF of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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