Senate Bill Calls For $10,000 Fine Per Illegal Robocall
WASHINGTON (CBS) – A bill proposed in the U.S. Senate would hit those behind annoying robocalls with big fines.
Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and Republican Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota, are sponsoring the TRACED act to crack down on robocall scams. They say their bill would let the FCC fine scammers up to $10,000 per robocall and give regulators more time to find offenders. It would also require the adoption of call authentication technologies and make it easier for consumers to block unwanted calls.
"As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief," Markey said in a statement. "It's a simple formula: call authentication, blocking, and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three."
It's estimated that the number of robocalls will make up nearly half of all calls next year.
The FCC is now requiring that telecommunications companies step up their efforts against robocalls. In a report aired Monday morning, T-Mobile showed CBS This Morning how its new Scam ID program is alerting customers to calls they won't want to pick up.