Robocalls have been plaguing Americans for years now. The Senate passed the TRACED Act or the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act. To help enforce this Act, telecom companies are banding together to put an end to them.
The phone rings and the number is not saved in your phone… Do you pick up and risk it being a scamming robocall or do you let it go to voicemail? It is unfortunate that Americans have to face this choice every day. Thankfully large telecom companies are getting involved and stepping up.
Robocalls
If you do not know what a ‘robocall’ is, it is simply when you answer the phone and it is not a live person. There are various types of robocalls where some can be malicious attacks and spam calls to obtain information, other calls can provide information. According to the Federal Trade Commission, these calls are illegal when they are trying to sell you a product or service unless you have given that company permission to call you.
Last year it was recorded that anywhere between 26-48 billion robocalls were placed that were unwanted by the receiver. Unfortunately, these calls do not just get on American’s nerves, but also get money out of their pockets. A report completed by Truecaller, states that $9.5 billion was lost in 2017 due to robocalls that were scams.
Telecom Companies Reveal New Pact
The large telecom companies are banding together to fight the relentless robocalls plaguing Americans. Some of these companies will include Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Century Link. The start of this initiative is the offering of free call-blocking tools for the end consumer. In addition to these tools, companies will also attempt to block calls at a network level.
The Federal Communications Commission has also required that telecom companies integrate a Caller ID system that will help differentiate between real numbers and scam numbers. This will help protect the end consumer and in attempts to stop these calls from happening the FCC is also requiring companies to provide resources to aid in the investigation of the origin of the scam robocalls.
GeoTel Communications has strong databases based on large telecom companies. If you are interested in gaining more insight on these companies, contact GeoTel today!
