FCC says more action on the way to stop illegal robocalls
MIAMI - Americans received 4.5 billion robocalls in April, according to the call block app company YouMail. And if you're tired of receiving them, you are not alone.
"These calls are so annoying, and it's the number one consumer complaint at the Federal Communications Commission," says Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Florida is at the top of the list and leads the country in first place with the most spam call complaints among the fifty states.
Last week the FCC shut down a phone provider responsible for allowing millions of illegal robocalls from overseas into the US. And on Thursday, May 18th, the commission adopted a measure that should weed out more spam calls.
Rosenworcel admits it's an ongoing battle.
"We took down the auto warranty scam that was out there a while ago. We took down a predatory mortgage lender. The problem is the folks behind these calls they are so creative, you shut down one scam and they move to the next, and so we just can't stop. To me this is not one of those things where there's a single fix," she said.
Another fix takes effect next month, that's the deadline for all call providers to implement new call authentication technology. Most phone providers have already adopted the tech called STIR/SHAKEN, which validates a real call and stops fake numbers.
But Alex Quilici, CEO of the robocall blocking app YouMail, said criminals found a workaround.
"The bad guys went and got a bunch of real numbers. So the scammers have just kept going," he said.
Rosenworcel says telemarketers and scam artists have also found loopholes in 30-year-old laws that allow them to continue contacting millions of people with auto-dialers. She's calling on lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to update those laws.
"In a day when a lot divides us, I think hatred of robocalls is one of those things that could unite us," Rosenworcel said.
She believes updating old laws and closing loopholes could be one more step to shut down spam calls for good.