Robocalls get answered by Congress

Legislation seeks to help consumers block unwanted calls, screen others

WASHINGTON — Help for dealing with annoying, persistent and downright weird robocalls is coming. Slowly.

Washington, D.C. has launched an aggressive effort to hunt down scammers and make it easier for consumers to block them. Legislation passed last week by the Senate and earlier this month by the House will trigger an aggressive push to crack down on the billions of unwanted calls.

The new push would allow fines of $10,000 per scammer call, give the Federal Communications Commission strong new clout to go after them, and require phone providers to block unauthorized calls. It will also help stop the faking of caller IDs, so consumers will know who is actually calling.

Paul Florack, vice president of product management and development at Transaction Network Services, a telecom solutions providers, said consumers are likely to see these changes in a few years:

• Many spam calls will simply be blocked so consumers won’t get them.

• If a spam call gets through, new technology will alert the consumer with a warning such as “potential spam.”

• If a call is legitimate, some symbol — like a check mark — will show up on caller ID.

Alex Quilici, chief executive officer at YouMail, which tracks and studies robocalls, called the legislation “a good first step. You’re going to see gradual improvement.”

“The bill moves the fight forward on robocalls,” added Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center.

The bill won’t suddenly stop the calls, and it will take awhile before any significant effect is felt. Scammers are adept at creating new ways around enforcement efforts, and business interests have concerns about the government initiatives.

While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the bill, it supports efforts to stop illegal robocalls.

The chamber, though, is concerned that legitimate calls will be blocked. What, officials ask, will happen to robocalls informing someone their medicine is ready or their credit card identity has been stolen?

The responsibility for stopping unwanted calls in the future will remain with the FCC, which oversees the nation’s communications networks.

The top robocall scam involved health-related calls, the company said, followed by calls about interest rates, Social Security and student loans. Each topic was the subject of at least 100 million robocalls.

Among cities, Atlanta logged the most robocalls, 199 million, followed by Dallas, Los Angeles, Houston and New York.

Washington’s effort has gained unusually strong support from Republicans, Democrats and regulators. It passed the Senate by voice vote, and the House legislation passed 417 to 3.

Only one senator has expressed reservations. “I’m not a big fan of it,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, told McClatchy when asked about the legislation. Asked why, he said, “I don’t have a comment for you now.”

Just don’t expect any quick change, warned Rep. Greg Walden, ROregon, a key bill sponsor.

“Let’s be clear,” he said. “While this legislation will make a difference, the scammers are going to try and do an end around whatever technology the carriers use to try and block these calls, authenticate these calls, stop these calls.”