Fighting Robocalls

Ever received a robocall? Of course you have. Even if you are on the do-not-call list, you still get robocalls. Want to do something about robocalls?  Then read the following 

Consumers Union issued a report, Dialing Back: How Phone Companies Can End Unwanted Robocalls.  Here is an excerpt from the executive summary:

The Do Not Call list, federal law enforcement efforts, and actions by the states have not been enough to protect Americans from the flood of unwanted robocalls that have become rampant in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of people complain each month to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about unwanted calls, and it’s estimated consumers lose $350 million a year to phone scams. Thanks to rapid advances in Internet technology, robocallers can make thousands of auto-dialed calls per minute for a relatively low cost. Robocall scammers easily escape detection and punishment by operating overseas or using software to disguise—or spoof—their name and number. The problem is so bad that federal agencies and Congress have been exploring solutions to the unwanted robocall problem.

Technological solutions are necessary to address this problem. A number of leading experts agree that phone companies have the power right now to implement technologies to dramatically reduce robocalls.

Consumers Union surveyed a variety of experts and innovators and found there are at least four proposed and existing robocall filtering technologies that phone companies could pursue to help protect their customers from unwanted robocalls. One solution, the Primus Telemarketing Guard, has been successfully implemented for traditional and broadband phone lines in Canada, which calls into question why similar technologies have not been offered in the United States.

The executive summary reviews call-blocking technologies that phone companies may provide and then offers the following recommendations:

● Phone companies should immediately offer free robocall-filtering services to all of their customers based on latest available technology.

● Phone companies should immediately develop “Do Not Originate” techniques to reduce spoofing by fraudulent callers.

● Phone companies should continue to pursue call authentication strategies as a long-term solution to the spoofing problem

 (citations omitted).

To read more about Consumers Union’s efforts to fight robocalls, click here.