ONE HALF OF ALL ROBO CALLS ARE SCAMS - Government Yet To Tackle Problem

(04/07/2019)
By Bob Weaver

Everyone can agree that robocalls are a nuisance.

Most want in your pocketbook.

Nearly half of all calls this year will be spam according to a report recently cited by the Federal Communications Commission. There’s some push in Washington from both lawmakers and agencies to crack down on billions of robocalls infecting our lives.

Washington could increase the criminal code, but they could be afraid of the overwhelming numbers.

A study estimates there were 52.9 billion robocalls last year, a 47 percent increase from 2017.

FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, indicates the FCC is cracking down on the illegal calls and demanding phone carriers to more to stop robocalls.

So far, they appear to be verbal threats.

The FCC is urging the phone industry to create a system to verify a caller is who they say they are. Since scammers often change caller ID information to try and trick you

Many of the calls are "spoofing," using places, names and numbers known to the victim.

Congress is discussing illegal robocalls, a Senate bill is one step closer to becoming law after it advanced in a key committee. It will require phone companies to take stronger action on call authentication.

Don't expect the problem to be solved anytime soon.