FCC bans Robocalls-Texts

Gavv

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
14,551
Any little bit helps.

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/fcc-bans-robocalls-texts

The Federal Communications Commission voted to approve laws that ban fraudulent text messages and international robocalls last week.

The new rules in effect neutralize loopholes in the Truth in Caller ID Act, which banned spoofing domestic calls but made it hard for the FCC to prosecute against perpetrators of scam text messages and international calls. Now, the FCC can monitor and penalize "bad actors" behind these types of schemes.

FCC Chair Ajit Pai proposed the legislation earlier this summer. Pai announced the approval, acknowledging the FCC has received tens of thousands of complaints about "spoofing" just this year.

“Caller ID spoofing,” which uses area codes similar to the receiver’s own, makes it more likely that the call receiver will pick up.

The AARP Fraud Watch Network estimates that 48 billion robocalls were made last year and it’s rising – these estimates are up 57 percent from last year.

To address this mounting problem, the House last week also passed a bipartisan bill that requires carriers to authenticate every call and to offer opt-out blocking for free. The Federal Trade Commission has increased enforcement by bringing lawsuits against groups responsible for more than a billion robocalls.

While legislative changes are being made for consumer protection, the FCC recommends Americans add their phone numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry by visiting www.donotcall.gov or calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number being registered. They estimate this step will reduce telemarketing calls within 31 days of registering the number.

Get real-time updates on this issue by visiting FCC Initiatives to Combat Robocalls and Spoofing and downloading the FCC Report on Robocalls.

Consumers can also assist in federal telemarketing scam investigations by filing a complaint with the FCC if they believe they have received an illegal call or text
 
Under AT&T, I hardly ever got robo called. Now I get them every day, sometimes twice a day, with T-Mobile. Good riddance this is finally law, I'll do my part if I keep getting them.
 
yeah add your number to the DNC list because scammers give a fk about that.. shit hasn't done anything to curb the problem and verizon can kiss my ass if i'm going to pay them to use their bullshit call screening app.
 
But you don't have to do the paid subscription for it to tell you that it's a potential spam call. At least that's how it works for me.

sadly it doesn't block most of the spoofing calls which are 90% of the ones i get. hiya does a better job than the verizon one at blocking them but now that app just nags the shit out of you to upgrade it.
 
I really do wish they'd do this everywhere and not just in the US.

Advertise with Google Ads, robocalls/SMS spamming seems to be the only hits you get!
 
Lol I'm just as confused as you are with his post.

Anything you discuss with him results in an unjustified "no, you're wrong" reply. Therefore, there's no point discussing anything with him.

Seems pretty logical to me.

When you advertise, you put your contact details including your phone number out there. As a result of putting your phone number on the internet, what do you think happens? Quite annoying when you pay per click.
 
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I'm all for this but so far we haven't seen any real enforcement of the past bills. I've seen posts from people stating they never got these with carrier a and then switched to carried b or vice versa and then started receiving them. I believe them but honestly sooner or later I've seen all the carriers get these. At&T, Verizon, Centurylink, Comcast, Team mobile, Sprint to name a few.

To address this mounting problem, the House last week also passed a bipartisan bill that requires carriers to authenticate every call and to offer opt-out blocking for free. The Federal Trade Commission has increased enforcement by bringing lawsuits against groups responsible for more than a billion robocalls.

I'll be happier when I see action taking place but those are some nice ideas.
 
FCC Chair Ajit Pai proposed the legislation earlier this summer. Pai announced the approval, acknowledging the FCC has received tens of thousands of complaints about "spoofing" just this year.

It's been pretty obvious to me that certain groups have gained access to phone networks for a few years now. I can call anywhere in the country and within about an hour I'll get a spoof call with the same area code. I've seen this with residential and business lines.
 
This won't change a thing. This robo callers can't be tracked down to be fined or w/e. If a number is not in my phone then I am not answering. If it is important leave a message and I might get back to you.
 
yeah add your number to the DNC list because scammers give a fk about that.. shit hasn't done anything to curb the problem

There needs to be some type of law that requires caller ID verification where the service provider is mandated that you can't list the originating phone number as a number that you don't own.
 
Since it seems many if not most of the US bound robo-calls are from points outside the US government's easy reach, I don't see this as doing much. It is a feel good thing that let Government Officials stand in front of reporters and say "Look at what we did to fight this plague!" Guessing that during any such photo op, many of the attendees will receive robocalls.

It will likely take a complete revamp of the phone network to fix this problem. It was designed when long distance phone calls often cost $1 minute and no sane person would make millions of colds calls. Couldn't afford it. There was no reason to setup the system to block spoofing since the cost still applied to the person making the call. Since then, the cost of long distance calls has become basically zero on many plans so making millions of zero costs calls has become profitable. Much like free email has led to the hordes of email spammers. If only one call or email out of a million yields a return, still cost effective for the scammers.
 
Since it seems many if not most of the US bound robo-calls are from points outside the US government's easy reach, I don't see this as doing much. It is a feel good thing that let Government Officials stand in front of reporters and say "Look at what we did to fight this plague!" Guessing that during any such photo op, many of the attendees will receive robocalls.

It will likely take a complete revamp of the phone network to fix this problem. It was designed when long distance phone calls often cost $1 minute and no sane person would make millions of colds calls. Couldn't afford it. There was no reason to setup the system to block spoofing since the cost still applied to the person making the call. Since then, the cost of long distance calls has become basically zero on many plans so making millions of zero costs calls has become profitable. Much like free email has led to the hordes of email spammers. If only one call or email out of a million yields a return, still cost effective for the scammers.

where the problems really started was VOIP.. if they actually want to do something, they need to go after the voip companies that allow this shit to happen then maybe they'll actually do their job and verify their customers.
 
Robo calling or texting me are illegal, a insurance company doing that here lately to a lot of people will get fined soon.
Actually you cant even robo snail mail me.
And if you google me google will return nothing to you, not even my phone number or address,,,, i am like a ghost that if you see it you will get a fine.

O and i dont have voice mail or what ever they call a answering machine today, and every time i change provider for my phone its the same hoop jumping having to tell them that yes i know it is free and everyone have it, but i do not want that BS.
Needless to say if i call you and you dont pick up i hang up, and call again later or assume you see my call attempt and call me later.
 
I've never had an issue with texts, but I probably get 5-6 robocalls per day. Most of them are from a number that looks pretty similar to my own, but is a couple digits off. Google's block feature doesn't appear to do much of anything since they're clearly spoofing real phone numbers.
 
It's pretty crazy. I changed my phone number a couple months ago b/c I just couldn't deal with all the calls I get. I always hand out my Google Voice number to businesses and people I don't necessarily want to have my "real" number and I still get spammed. Even after changing my number I have noticed an increase the last couple of weeks. Idk how the fuck these people get my number.

I'd be curious to see if I disconnected my Google Voice number from my main line if they would stop or have any affect.
 
Pretty sure they're buying lists of phone numbers or even just randomizing the numbers that dialers call. As part of two different cable/satellite packages I've inherited a land line that I've never used. I don't even know the numbers without looking them up. They not in the phone book or any directories I know of. Yet I still get calls on them. One had 15 voicemails on it after 3 months prior to disconnecting it. With my current one I see calls pop-up when watching TV.
 
Idk how the fuck these people get my number.

They don't. They wardial. 212-111-0001, then 212-111-0002, etc. If you answer, they connect you to a person. Although lately, they connect you to a robot, probably because the humans are taking too much (deserved) abuse.
 
I suggest that anyone that's tech savvy should fight back against these robo callers and scammers. If we outnumber the older and inexperienced people that usually fall for these scams, maybe they'll stop

If you don't have time, make time. You'd be literally saving lives.
 
I must get five calls from all over the country a day. And I never give out my number. I cringe everytime I'm at the grocery store and the person in front hands it over. I have no idea if its random, or I've overlooked a company that sold my number off. What sucks now are the numbers coming in as local numbers. Lot of my customers get these calls and some elderly folk have been scammed. Sucks.
 
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