It used to be that robocalls, those automated telephone calls that deliver a recorded message, were reliably made by one of two parties: politicians or telemarketers. Lately, however, scammers have realized the potential of robocalls. Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported an increase in robocalls where scammers leave urgent callback requests telling taxpayers to call back to settle their “tax bill.” These fake calls, which often sound threatening, claim to be the last warning before legal action is taken.
And scammers aren’t content to leave it at one robocall. As part of their strategy to intimidate taxpayers, they’re making multiple calls. I know firsthand: I received three in one day.
More and more, taxpayers want to know, “What is IRS going to do about it?”
The IRS has been taking steps to warn taxpayers and has urged taxpayers to reach out to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the scam. But they can’t do it alone.
That’s why taxpayers and consumers should cheer a new crackdown on robocalls. The “Robocall Strike Force” is an industry-led group committed to developing comprehensive solutions to prevent, detect, and filter unwanted robocalls. The task force is made up of communications companies including cell and landline service providers, phone manufacturers, operating system (OS) developers and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
On August 19, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler hosted the first meeting of the task force. Calling robocalls a “scourge,” he noted that robocalls and telemarketing calls are the number one source of consumer complaints received by the FCC, garnering about 200,000 complaints per year.
The task force was created after Chairman Wheeler urged carriers and standards groups “to accelerate the development and deployment of technical standards that would prevent spoofing of caller ID and thus make blocking technologies more effective, as was done in the battle against spam years ago.” Those companies were asked to respond within 30 days with “their concrete, actionable solutions to address these issues.”
At the first meeting of the task force, Chairman Wheeler admitted that it could take time to find a perfect solution but warned, “Let’s not sit and wait for the ultimate solution, let’s start solving issues immediately.” He went on to say, “The bad guys are beating the good guys with technology.” FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn added in her remarks that the “American consumer is counting on us to stop these daily disruptions.”
How? New technology for one. Chairman Wheeler previously suggested that robocallers have been emboldened “due in large part to industry inaction.” That, he says, must stop, and he called on major companies to take specific action. Among the action items he mentioned are industry-wide Caller ID verification standards which would allow consumers to block calls from spoofed phone numbers as well as a “Do Not Originate” list that would make it more difficult for scammers to pretend to call from government agencies like the IRS. Currently, the FCC does not require robocall blocking or filtering but, as Commissioner Clyburn indicated, last summer, the FCC adopted a proposal that gave providers the green light to implement robocall-blocking technologies and urged them to provide consumers with free call-blocking services.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will chair the strike force, and both Chairman Wheeler and Commissioner Clyburn lauded the telecommunications conglomerate for taking a leading role. Stephenson acknowledged that the problem was a complicated one, saying:
We have calls that are perfectly legal, but unwanted, like telemarketers and public opinion surveyors. At the other end of the spectrum, we have millions of calls that are blatantly illegal. They are violating the Do Not Call registry or, worse, trying to steal your money or identity.
The challenge is, of course, to find a long-term solution that balances those extremes.
To do that, the task force will need widespread participation – and so far, it looks like they have it. Members of the 33 member task force include such companies as Apple, Bandwidth, Comcast, Google, Microsoft, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
The task force has committed to report back to the FCC by October 19. The report will include “concrete plans to accelerate the development and adoption of new tools and solutions” and “make recommendations to the FCC on the role government should play in this battle.”
You can watch the first meeting of the task force here.
