AGs Push FCC on Robocall Rules
Davinci | Dreamstime.com
Alaska’s attorney general joins counterparts from every other state supporting efforts to stop robocallers from misusing legitimate phone numbers. Attorney General Treg Taylor co-signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the regulatory agency’s efforts to reduce robocalls.
Taylor and every other state attorney general are seeking stronger measures to counteract the ways illegal robocallers use legitimate phone numbers to commit fraud and harass consumers.
“Despite ongoing efforts to protect consumers from a constant and consistent barrage of unwanted calls, scammers continue to use illegal means to reach out to Alaska consumers,” Taylor says. “The FCC has proposed tougher measures to crack down on this abuse, and I’m glad to join with attorneys general from across the country to support these new rules.”
Current Issue
September 2024
Earlier this year, phone companies were required to implement STIR/SHAKEN, a caller ID authentication technology to combat “spoofing” or making a call appear to be from another number, by ensuring that telephone calls originate from verified numbers. Because the technology prevents robocallers from spoofing phone numbers, scam robocalls have dropped by 29 percent since June as the phone industry continues to put STIR/SHAKEN into effect.
However, robocallers are now successfully evading caller ID authentication by purchasing access to legitimate phone numbers to conceal their identities. They typically do this by providing false identifying information to, or otherwise shielding their identities from, the companies that have access to legitimate numbers.
Taylor and other attorneys general support the FCC’s proposals to implement a more thorough application, review, and monitoring process for phone companies that request direct access to phone numbers and to require these companies to verify their customers’ identities to help keep the numbers from being sold, leased, or rented to illegal robocallers. This includes limiting the use of both temporary phone numbers for trial customers and untraceable payment mechanisms.
