Last year, an estimated 47.8 billion robocalls were placed nationwide, an increase of 17 billion calls over the previous year, which represents a rising risk to the American people as robocallers intensify their scams to defraud consumers and disrupt our health care system.
“In my home and for families across the Central Valley, the epidemic of spam robocalls has become not only a constant annoyance but a serious threat to vulnerable populations,” said Cox. “Scammers use sophisticated technology to prey on our neighbors and elders, compromising our identity security and leaving us more vulnerable to cybercrime and identity theft. This bipartisan legislation strengthens consumer protections and halts annoying robocalls without any added cost to your family.”
The bipartisan Stopping Bad Robocalls Act:
- Requires phone carriers implement call authentication technology so consumers can trust their caller ID, with no additional line-item for consumers, and a process to help rural carriers implement this technology
- Allows carriers to offer call-blocking services to consumers, with no additional line-item charge, with important transparency safeguards to make sure important calls aren’t inadvertently blocked
- Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue rules to protect consumers from calls they didn’t agree to receive and ensure consumers can withdraw consent
- Requires the FCC to enact safeguards so companies can’t abuse robocall exemptions
- Ensures the FCC has the authority and the tools to take strong, quick action when it tracks down robocallers, including by extending the statute of limitations from one year to as many as four years for callers violating robocall prohibitions
- Mandates the FCC submits a report to Congress on the implementation of its reassigned numbers database to make sure the Commission is effectively protecting consumers from unwanted calls.
